Andy Ruiz revealed this weekend he spoke to Anthony Joshua in Abu Dhabi – and Joshua told him he’d be happy to make a third fight between the pair.
Ruiz and Joshua were sat ringside at the Etihad Arena for Dmitry Bivol’s win over Gilberto Ramirez, so it was perhaps an inevitability that conversations of another fight would be had.
And Ruiz told Intu Boxing that AJ seemed more than reciprocal when ‘The Destroyer’ brought about the possibility of one more dance.
“I’m trying to get those titles back. I just spoke to Anthony Joshua, he told me he wants to make something happen, he wants to make the trilogy – that’d be pretty cool!
I just brought it up, but that’s how things happen and fight’s get made, so we’ll see.”
Joshua and Ruiz’ rivalry currently stands at one a piece, after the Brit avenged his shock KO loss to the Mexican at Madison Square Garden in 2019 with a comfortable points victory in Saudi Arabia later that year.
However, a fight with Deontay Wilder seems more likely to be next for Ruiz, with the WBC ordering the bout as a final eliminator and talks said to be ongoing for a meeting in the first half of 2023. Both men are signed to Al Haymon’s PBC, so feelings are that, in principle, the fight should be a relatively easy one to make.
Ruiz seems confident that he can get the better of ‘The Bronze Bomber‘, even revealing the punch he feels will do the damage:
“I feel that I can take a punch. I’m not saying that he doesn’t hit hard or anything – damn well he hits hard.
But just like Eddie Hearn was saying, I’m going to get in, I’m going to throw my combinations, I’m going to be fast, explosive, and I feel that right hand in his temple, he’s gonna go down.”
Ruiz was last out on September 4th, winning a unanimous decision over Cuban veteran Luis Ortiz after over a year out of the ring.