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VIDEO: ANDY RUIZ JR TRIMS DOWN FOR ANTHONY JOSHUA REMATCH

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Anthony Joshua could be facing a different Andy Ruiz Jr when the two meet again in Saudi rematch.

In their first fight in June, Ruiz was fat and flabby. He has now trimmed down and looks lean ahead of the rematch on December 7.

He has already thrown the first jab, warning Joshua that he’s now faster and more powerful than when he floored the former champion in June.

The Mexican  who was a last minute replacement for the June fight as Joshua was originally to fight Jarrell Miller who was disqualified having failed three drug tests.

A trimmer Andy Ruiz

Luis Oritz was contacted but he declined before Ruiz became the last option. He surprisingly floored Joshua four times in New York resulting in one of the all-time shocks in Heavyweight boxing history. 

Flabby Andy Ruiz Jr floors a muscular Anthony Joshua in June.

And Ruiz has been working hard as they get set to do battle again and has been showing off his new and leaner side to his physique.

Flabby Andy Ruiz in June

With just under two months to go until their highly anticipated rematch, Ruiz informed Joshua that he is working to be in better shape then when he beat him in New York.

‘I have a lot of respect for Anthony, outside the ring he is a very good man’, he told ESPN Deportes.

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‘But inside [the ring] there are no friends, there is no respect or anything

‘It will not be an easy fight. I think it will be a hard fight, but nothing is easy in life, so we are training very hard. We will be prepared for whatever he bring.

‘I will arrive in better condition…. lighter, faster and more powerful. They will believe that in December they will win.

‘People will always talk like this, but I have faith that we’re going to win and shut up more mouths.’  

Ruiz, 30, was a late replacement for June’s fight, after Joshua was originally scheduled to fight Jarrell Miller before the American failed three different drug tests. 

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When Luis Oritz refused to fight Joshua, Ruiz stepped in a month in advance, with virtually no one in the boxing world giving him any hope of an upset.

But the Mexican captured the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and IBO world heavyweight titles with his seventh-round TKO victory – Joshua’s first defeat in his professional career. 

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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