Boxing

I WILL BE SLICKER AND FASTER, SAYS ANDY RUIZ IN REMATCH WITH ANTHONY JOSHUA

Published

6 years ago

December 6, 2019

The Guardian in UK has reported that Andy Ruiz Jr has denied becoming complacent since shocking the world to become the heavyweight champion – and promised he will be slicker and faster for Saturday night’s rematch with Anthony Joshua.

Ruiz celebrated winning the WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight belts by buying five cars – including two types of Mercedes G-Class, a Rolls Royce and a Lamborghini as well as a truck for his parents – but says his competitive fire rages brighter than ever.

While the Mexican-American expects Joshua to come in much lighter in their second fight in a bid to outmanoeuvre him, he predicts another stoppage.

“We’ve been training on being small, being more slick, applying pressure, throwing combinations and being first to the punch,” Ruiz said. “I know he is going to try to box me around, that’s why he has lost some weight. He’ll try to keep me away with the jab but that’s exactly what we’ve been practising for.

“I think he will box around nicely for four or five rounds until I take the pressure to him, start hitting his body and mixing it up. He’s not good enough to avoid me for the full 12 rounds on the back foot. We’ve been working on this for around three months now and I know, whatever he brings, we will be ready for it.”

Ruiz admitted that part of his tactics have involved enraging Joshua by calling him a quitter for spitting out his gumshield in their first fight. “I am pretty sure he was mad at me,” he said, “but that is what I felt in my heart, he spat his mouthpiece out and quit.

“I respect the man outside the ring. I would always hug him and shake his hand, so it’s all about respect. But I want him to be mad and swinging in the ring, I want him to have that attitude because I will be calm and know exactly what we need to do.”

Ruiz, who expects to weigh just over 19st again as he did for the first fight with Joshua, also revealed he had been talking to the WBC champion, Deontay Wilder, about a unification fight. “Me and Wilder actually talk on the phone, we are good friends,” he said. “We know what is in the plan.”

Boxing

Trump’s US arrests Mexican boxer, Julio Cesar Chavez, seeks to deport him

Published

7 days ago

July 4, 2025

Kunle Solaja

Mexican boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. enters the ring before his fight against Jake Paul at Honda Center in Anaheim, California, U.S. June 28, 2025. Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images via REUTERS

U.S. immigration authorities have arrested Mexican boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr in Los Angeles and plan to deport him, they said on Thursday, just days after he lost a high-profile bout to American rival Jake Paul.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Chavez was determined to be in the country illegally last week after he made fraudulent statements on a 2024 application for permanent residence. He is married to a U.S. citizen, it said.

Michael Goldstein, a lawyer for Chavez, said more than two dozen immigration agents arrested the boxer at his home in the Studio City area of Los Angeles on Wednesday.

“The current allegations are outrageous and appear to be designed as a headline to terrorize the community,” Goldstein said.

Homeland Security said that the 39-year-old boxer, son of Mexican world champion fighter Julio Cesar Chavez, is suspected of ties to Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, which Washington has designated a foreign terrorist organization.

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. speaks at press conference in anticipation of his fight against Jake Paul at Avalon Hollywood Theater. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images/File Photo

His wife, Frida Munoz Chavez, was previously married to the son of former Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who is serving a life sentence in a U.S. prison. The son, Edgar, was assassinated in 2008.

Chavez is the target of a Mexican arrest warrant on allegations of involvement in organized crime and firearms trafficking, DHS said.

In Mexico, Chavez’ family said in a statement they “fully trust in his innocence.”

Chavez lost to influencer-turned-boxer Paul, 28, last weekend before a sold-out crowd in Anaheim, California, in a unanimous decision after 10 rounds.

He was allowed to enter the United States temporarily in early January under former President Joe Biden, DHS said. He had previously overstayed a tourist visa, it said.

The agency said Chavez was convicted in Los Angeles in 2024 on weapons charges. Goldstein denied he was convicted, saying he pleaded not guilty and was granted mental health diversion which will result in dismissal of the charges.

Chavez won the WBC middleweight championship in 2011, but lost the title the next year.

His career has been overshadowed by controversies including a suspension after testing positive for a banned substance in 2009 and a fine and suspension after testing positive for marijuana in 2013.

His record stands at 54 wins, six losses and one draw, with 34 knockouts.

Reporting by Brendan O’Brien and Bhargav Acharya, Lizbeth Diaz, Angelica Medina, Diego Ore and Kylie Madry in Mexico City, Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Bill Berkrot

-Reuters

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Boxing

Pacquiao coming out of retirement to face Barrios in title fight

Published

2 months ago

May 22, 2025

Kunle Solaja

Antony Joshua v Francis Ngannou - Weigh-in - BLVD World, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - March 7, 2024 Manny Pacquiao poses ahead of the weigh-in Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Couldridge/File Photo

Manny Pacquiao will come out of retirement to face Mario Barrios for the WBC welterweight championship on July 19 in Las Vegas, the 46-year-old Filipino boxer said on Wednesday.

Pacquiao is the only boxer to win world championships in a record eight weight divisions while he was also the oldest welterweight world champion in history at the age of 40 in 2019.

A Filipino senator from 2016 to 2022, Pacquiao had retired from boxing in 2021 while he also ran for president in 2022.

“I’m back. On July 19, I return to the ring to face WBC Welterweight Champion Mario Barrios at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Let’s make history,” Pacquiao wrote on Instagram.

The southpaw, who has 62 wins, eight losses and two draws in a 72-fight career, was also elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2025.

Barrios, a Mexican-American boxer, has 29 wins in 32 bouts, winning 18 by knockout and losing twice.

-Reuters

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Boxing

Autopsy on dead Nigerian boxer to be conducted on Wednesday

Published

3 months ago

April 1, 2025

Kunle Solaja

The body of Segun Olanrewaju, the Nigerian boxer who slumped and died in the ring in Ghana on Saturday is still in a mortuary in Ghana. The President of the Nigerian Boxing Board of Control (NBB of C), Dr Rafiu Oladipo, informed Sports Village Square that an autopsy will be conducted on Wednesday.

He said that the NBB of C is closely monitoring the events in Ghana, even as the Director General of the National Sports Commission, Bukola Olopade has asked for updates on the sad incident.

On Monday, a delegation of the NBB of C visited the family of the late boxer in Sango Otta in Ogun State. Oladipo said he was still in shock at the death of the boxer who he considered fit having fought last December 29.

He revealed that one of the members of the Nigerian delegation to Ghana stayed behind to follow up on the autopsy.

He narrated that the late boxer took part on Thursday in the mandatory weigh-in which is normally conducted 24 hours before a fight. Additionally, a medical check-up is also to be conducted.

“But in this instance, there was no medical check. On this ground, Oladipo blamed the Ghana Boxing Authority.

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