Andy Ruiz Jnr has again thrown his name into the hat to face Anthony Joshua, the man he split two fights with in 2019, should his old opponent be willing to settle the score.
In one of the biggest upsets in recent boxing history, inside New York’s Madison Square Garden, Ruiz rose from a third-round knockdown to return the favor four times and stop Joshua – then the unbeaten three-belt heavyweight champion – in seven rounds. The rematch, which came six months later in December 2019, saw Ruiz turn up in dreadful shape to be widely outpointed in Saudi Arabia.
“I think there has to be a trilogy with ‘AJ’,” Ruiz, 35-2-1 (22 KOs), told casino.org. “His life changed when we fought and my life changed when we fought. I beat him, he only beat me [in the rematch] because I let him. I let him hit me in the second fight because I was an idiot, I should have taken that fight more seriously. I’m not gonna go out there and force him or push it. But I think it would be a good fight for both of us to come back. But I’ll definitely beat him, 100 per cent.”
“I want to redeem myself. I gave our rematch away. I weighed almost 300 pounds, so I wasn’t in shape, and I still lasted 12 rounds. So, I feel people did not see the best in me when they saw the fight. I also kind of underestimated him, and I didn’t take it seriously. Yes, it’s my fault, but is there redemption? Can we change that? Can we become champions again? Yes, we can. We just have to have faith and, and keep working, and my time will come.
“Right now I think patience is key and I just have to stay motivated and stay disciplined. I think that’s the main thing. If you’re not disciplined, it’s gonna mess up. And that’s exactly what I wasn’t with AJ.”
A lot has changed since 2019, of course.
Ruiz has only fought three further times: beating Chris Arreola in 2021; Luis Ortiz the following year; and, most recently, being held to a draw by Jarrell Miller in 2024.
Joshua, meanwhile, would lose the titles and two decisions to Oleksandr Usyk and, after a return to form that saw him win four on the bounce, be stopped by Daniel Dubois 19 months ago. A victory over Jake Paul in December breathed new life into Joshua’s career before he was involved in a tragic car crash in Nigeria that killed two of his closest friends.
The 29-4 (26 KOs) Joshua, who like Ruiz is 36 years old, has regardless been heavily linked to a 2026 battle with Tyson Fury, another ex-champion.
“You know, AJ’s been through a lot of stuff, so I don’t really have anything bad to say about him, besides me trying to push him as well, because you never know, maybe we can make the trilogy fight happen after he wins these fights that he has coming next,” Ruiz went on. “But if it was him and Tyson Fury, I think Anthony Joshua would win, I think he could take him out. If he pressures him and doesn’t let Tyson Fury box around and play his little games that he wants to play, then I think Joshua could win.”
Such an outcome would likely upset the odds, with plenty favoring Fury should the contest occur.
“I think a lot of fighters look at [Joshua’s] past and the stuff he’s been through and the losses, but every fighter can redeem themselves,” Ruiz observed. “Every fighter is different in every fight. Like they say, style makes fights, so I think that’s one of the ways they underestimate him. But, anybody can come back stronger. A lot of fans criticize you for one fight, but don’t appreciate the other good fights that you have.
“I think a flaw that people have about fighting AJ is that they see his background and the times that he has lost, and they think they could beat him. They think if this guy did it, I could do it too. But, any fight that he has, if he lands well then he could change everything.
“He takes things too far though, and I don’t want him to feel unconfident in himself. Sometimes, when he’s fighting, I feel like he’s too cautious of what the other person is going to throw at him. You have to get hit, you’re gonna get hit no matter what. But sometimes I feel like he gets a little bit scared, like he has something in the back of his head. Maybe he remembers ‘man, they're gonna hit me again’. So, he’s a little cautious of what and when he throws. I think his instinct is what sometimes lets him down.”
In what is perceived to be a final effort to correct old flaws, Joshua – previously trained by Ben Davison – has recently been training with Usyk, his old conqueror and current heavyweight king.
“I think he desperately needed something different to help him feel better,” Ruiz said about the link-up. “There's something that he doesn't like in his form and training, and he wants to learn from the people that beat him. So, there is nothing wrong with that, but if you don’t have it in your head and heart, then it’s going to be hard to do it. But like I said, anything is possible. And I feel if Anthony Joshua works hard on that and is no longer worried about getting hit, I think it might be good.
“I hope it’s good, so we can do the trilogy.”
