Ruiz breaks silence on fight announcement
At long last, the champ speaks. After five days of radio silence following the announcement by Anthony Joshua’s chief promoter Eddie Hearn that the rematch between former the WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight boxing titlist and himself had been set for Dec. 7 in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, current titlist Andy Ruiz Jr. has finally given the wider world some hint of his feelings on the matter.
In short: He’s not really feeling it. Ruiz addressed the pending rematch in brief on Wednesday in a stream of consciousness Instagram Live video, where he refuted the notion, put forth by Hearn, that the Diriyah fight was an inevitability.
“I know everyone is talking about the fight and all that,” Ruiz said, “But we got the real news coming soon and the fight is gonna happen soon.
“AJ got the rematch, yes we do got the rematch,” he went on, “But it’s gonna be on my terms. We’re gonna bring it back here in the United States.”
Ruiz did not go into detail about his reasoning for spurning the Saudi location, though he did allude to potential safety concerns, saying, somewhat cryptically, “I don’t have no protection over there.”
Security was also referenced in a Facebook post by Ruiz’s cousin Ralph Ponce touted as an “official update.”
The post, accompanied by an edited
version of Ruiz’s Instagram video, reiterated the champion’s reluctance to kowtow to Hearn and Matchroom Boxing’s unilateral determination of site.
“Andy is not happy about the location and has not signed any contracts to fight in Saudia Arabia,” Ponce said. “He’s excited about the rematch but needs to ensure that the venue is in a SAFE location on mutual grounds.”
Of course Ruiz has, in fact, signed a contract. He signed it ahead of the first Joshua fight, and the scheduled rematch was baked into that one, with terms stipulating that Joshua’s camp would have the final say over the when and where of any potential round two.
Industry speculation abounds that Ruiz is angling for cushier financial accommodations. The terms of his original contract give him a rematch purse of somewhere in the $9 million range. The site fee Hearn negotiated with the Saudi-based Skill Challenge Entertainment reportedly sits right around $40 million. Ruiz, as the champion, may feel he deserves a bigger slice of that pie.
Speaking to British outlet Sky Sports, Hearn was firm in disavowing any notion that he’s willing to reconsider venue, or that he has any obligation to cater to the Ruiz camp beyond what he already has done.
“[Ruiz and Joshua] were both signed at the same time. There is no other contract,” Hearn said. “We have to let [Andy and his team] know the time, date and venue — which we have done. That’s it. They are contractually bound for the rematch. There are no conversations between the two teams about not doing the fight. I don’t perceive a problem.”
Hearn went on to suggest legal action might be in the offing if Ruiz fails to get with the program.
“He will 100 percent honor that contract. His choice is to have a legal battle that could put him out of boxing for years, or to defend his belts for a lot of money against a guy he has already beaten. There isn’t any doubt he will take the fight. Any messing around and Ruiz Jr. will lose belts, and he won’t want to do that.”
Even without a legal battle Ruiz’s IBF title may be in jeopardy if there is any further delay, with the Federation mandating a Ruiz-Joshua rematch to take place by Dec. 7 to set up a fight with their mandatory challenger, Kubrat Pulev of Bulgaria.