Joshua to face Ruiz in rematch later this year
Anthony Joshua will attempt to reclaim his heavyweight titles from Andy Ruiz Jr before the end of year after activating a rematch clause in his contract, promoter Eddie Hearn said on Tuesday.
In a brief post on Twitter, Hearn said Joshua had opted for an immediate rematch against Ruiz, who shocked the boxing world with a seventh-round knockout of the British fighter on Saturday.
“After meetings with AJ, [trainer] Rob [McCracken] and the management team in NY, we have today triggered the contracted rematch clause with Andy Ruiz Jnr,” Hearn wrote. “The fight will take place in November/December at a venue to be confirmed shortly.”
Ruiz pulled off one of the biggest upsets in the history of the heavyweight division at Madison Square Garden with his sensational stoppage of Joshua, the previously unbeaten WBA, IBF, and WBO heavyweight champion.
The 29-year-old Ruiz started the fight as a massive 32-1 underdog but floored Joshua four times on his way to a win which upended the heavyweight division standings.
In comments to ESPN later on Tuesday, Hearn said Joshua was anxious to get back in the ring with Ruiz as quickly as possible. “There was no point in waiting,” Hearn said.
“We’ve talked about it and it’s happening. There’s no other fight AJ wants, so there was no point waiting 30 days.
“Everybody needs clarity. We sat down and it wasn’t even a case of him asking what else is out there.
“The rematch is the fight we need, and that’s what we’ll be doing.”