The six-pack fight!
Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2019 7:18 am
Joshua has to redeem himself after the debacle of the last fight.
Typical of the Guardian to put "uman rights innit" into the text.When Anthony Joshua and Andy Ruiz Jr face off on Saturday night in the most controversial world heavyweight title fight for more than 40 years, their rules of engagement will be those of the Marquis of Queensberry and not Mr Olympia.
But as the two men touched the scales in Saudi Arabia it was impossible to ignore their respective physiques. Joshua sported a six-pack. His opponent looked as if he had just drunk one.
Joshua has been relaxed all week, despite the mounting criticism from Amnesty International that taking around £60m from a kingdom that has an “abysmal” human rights record, including jailing and executing opponents, was a serious misstep. But the sight of Ruiz weighing in at 20st 3lb, the second highest in heavyweight championship history behind the Russian giant Nikolai Valuev, has surely sent his confidence surging.
Joshua knows there can be only three reasons why Ruiz is now 15lbs heavier than in June, when he discombobulated his senses, and all of us watching, to rip the WBA, IBF and WBO world titles from his waist.
The first is that the Mexican-American believes the dice are loaded against him on a show run by Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn and has packed on muscle to ensure the fight does not go the distance. The second is that he was hiding an anvil under the large sombrero he wore on the scales. The least generous interpretation is that Ruiz Jr has gone full Buster Douglas.
It was Douglas who became a byword for going from glory to gluttony, following up his staggering knockout of Mike Tyson by coming in 15lbs heavier for his only world title defence against Evander Holyfield.
The contrast in appearance with Joshua, who weighed in at 16st 13lb – his lightest since 2014 – could hardly have been more stark. Defeat has given the 30-year-old Briton time to reset, to think, to level up. Not only has he trained for 16 weeks for the rematch, sparring for 12 of them – double his usual quota – he has also been zealously studying videos of old fights.
“Ever since I walked into boxing I have been dominating,” he says. “Championships, bosh! Turn pro, bosh! World champion, bosh! And then you never really understand what it is until it’s taken.”
“So I’ve really started studying boxing again. I’ve watched loads of videos, old fights. You learn about tactics, about when to move to the left against an orthodox fighter. Is it dangerous? Is it smart? What is the first art of defensive boxing? I didn’t give a fuck about the science, I just came to fight. Now I’m learning about the sweet science again.”
The vibes are good. Since arriving in Riyadh a fortnight ago, Joshua has held his sparring at a pop-up boxing ring at the British embassy in the Saudi capital. For his last session, he invited 80-100 staff to watch. One onlooker said the fighter looked sensational.
“Behind closed doors I swear I work so hard mentally and physically,” Joshua says. “I spend hours perfecting my craft. As soon as I wake up in the morning I’m listening to stuff that has relevance to mental strength. The minute before I go to sleep I’m just thinking boxing.”
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/ ... redemption