AJ VOWS TO BEAT RUIZ TO THE PUNCH
MAYBE the man with hammers in his gloves was hiding an anvil under his sombrero. Maybe the man who pulled off such a masterful act of deception six months ago was leading us all down the path of another illusion. Maybe the man just loves Snickers.
This being Andy Ruiz, the heavyweight champion of the world, who would dare say anything with certainty right now? Or judge him? Fool me once, and all that.
So, perhaps we should take at face value what we saw on the spongy lawn outside the Al Faisaliah Hotel in Riyadh yesterday — that Ruiz is as undercooked as the scales would have us believe.
Or perhaps we shouldn’t. Perhaps those numbers were part of a ruse deployed by a fighter who has already proven that conventional wisdom is no match for a good left hook behind the ear.
Disguising his flair for violence in a cloak of chubby affability is this guy’s shtick, so it is probably fair to say that what was announced to gasps at the weigh-in yesterday — 20 stones and three pounds, goodness me — has only heightened the mystery of tonight, not lessened it.
And that is about right, because this entire half-year saga has been nothing if not a mystery. It’s the mystery of a compelling, brilliant rivalry that no one saw coming, and the mystery of why we all find ourselves complicit in the showcasing of Saudi Arabia.
They are two competing narratives that have danced all week and were brought together once more yesterday, as these fighters converged for the final time before the next time.
Quite fittingly, the road leading up to the scales on an outdoor stage was patrolled by an armoured car with a mounted machine gun post. Beyond it was a line of 4x4s in a kingdom where size and strength and power really, truly matter.
It has been the uncomfortable backdrop of the week, really. Maybe, if the ruling family get their wish, it will be the backdrop of many more.
They have Formula E, European Tour golf, elite tennis is in town next week, and tonight, in that 15,000- seat outdoor stadium in Diriyah, they have the biggest boxing match-up of the year.
The stance of Joshua and his decision-makers has already been noted and criticised this week. As has the argument that if Saudi money is good enough for our government, why not a prize fighter?
Joshua’s reputation has suffered, but as was pointed out on these pages yesterday, the Rumble in the Jungle didn’t hurt Muhammad Ali too much. Most would say it made him, and it is also said that under the ground of the stadium in Kinshasa that night were cells containing the political enemies of Zaire’s President Mobutu.
Boxing, at its very core and purpose, has always had an interesting relationship with morality and its staging posts are only part of it.
But it can also be wonderful, both in its contexts and content. And that is why we can still enjoy the other storyline, which is what will unfold tonight between a huge, toned man and a small, wobbly one. The differences are just marvellous, and were captured in their stare-down yesterday.
Joshua is not skinny, like some say. He was ripped and tightly packed at 16st 13lb, his lightest weight since 2014, when he fought a guy called Denis Bakhtov for the WBC international heavyweight title — his first professional belt.
He had his shirt off and his speakers on, barely an expression on his face. As the challenger, which has been his tag for six long months, he was up first. He has probably never weighed in to less noise in his career. Rowdiness, among other things, is not a trait of Saudi life. Then they brought out Ruiz. Of the few hundred here, a decent number booed. But up he went, stripping off his tracksuit top but keeping on his vest and hat.
He was 15 pounds heavier than for the first fight — with interesting symmetry, so was Buster Douglas for his first title defence after shocking the world and Mike Tyson. That fight against Evander Holyfield lasted all of three rounds before he took the invitation to stay down after a modest straight right.
Some people climb the mountain, get rich and decide it’s enough. Douglas made a fortune and started to binge on sweets. Ruiz was given unlimited reserves of Snickers bars.
And perhaps that is a clue to what will happen here.
Joshua, on a mission to jab and move and stay out of trouble, certainly seems far more confident than last time. He practically bounced off the stage after 20 seconds of looking into Ruiz’s eyes.
‘I feel good,’ he said. ‘Andy is a big lad. They should make a super- heavyweight division because there is that much of a vast difference. The art of the game is to hit and not get hit, avoid them punches. He is three stone heavier (than me) and everyone is saying how fast he is. I’ll definitely be beating him to the punch tomorrow.’
But the risk, as ever, is what happens if Ruiz lands one of his own. That extra weight will be a burden in chasing Joshua down, but imagine if it gets fully loaded into just one successful punch. Who knows?
When they get in the ring at around 9pm tonight, with the desert chill at around 13 degrees, Ruiz might blow hotter than hell again. Or he might not. All we know is that he has fooled us all before.