Tyson Fury is backing WBA, IBF, WBO heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz to once again defeat Anthony Joshua.
Last Saturday night, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, Ruiz pulled off one of the biggest upsets in boxing history when he stopped Joshua in the seventh round.
Joshua was dropped four times in the contest, before the referee waved off the fight and Ruiz walked away with four world titles. Ruiz was a late replacement for Jarrell Miller, who was pulled from the fight after testing positive for banned substances.
Joshua has already exercised the rematch clause. The second fight is expected to take place in the fall, likely in a venue in the UK.
Fury does not expect anything to change the second time around. He believes Ruiz’s style is like kryptonite to Joshua, who vowed to reclaim his belts.
“I think even in the rematch he’ll lose again. Styles make fights and I think Andy Ruiz is all wrong for him,” Fury told ESPN.
“I looked at Joshua walking in and he didn’t have no water, no sweat going into the ring. I said this guy is going to get knocked out and this is before the fight started. And then it happened, and I knew he couldn’t box that style. Even in the rematch, this was wrong and this was wrong, but [Joshua’s] style and [Ruiz’s] style don’t go together.
“Andy will always beat AJ, in my opinion. If you look at Joshua’s physique, he didn’t look under-prepared for him. It means nothing. It’s not the dog in the fight, it’s the fight in the dog. I looked at Joshua and I seen he didn’t want to be in the ring on the night. He was looking away and seemed to have other things on his mind. When fighters travel and go into the other guy’s backyard, they feel intimidated.”
–boxingscene
