Andy Ruiz vs Anthony Joshua 2 – is the fight going ahead, will it take place in Saudi Arabia and how much are the fighters set to make?
IT’S the most eagerly awaited heavyweight rematch of the year.
Anthony Joshua‘s round two with Andy Ruiz Jr has fan fights around the world on tenterhooks – and it’s now been revealed when the two heavyweights will go toe-to-toe once again.
Is the fight going ahead?
THE fight has now been confirmed by AJ, promoter Eddie Hearn and the champ himself.
Both Hearn and Joshua have come out on social media and in press conferences stating that the paperwork is done and the rematch will take place on December 7.
Ruiz was claiming that he has signed nothing – and reportedly hasn’t been training for the last TWO months.
Tyson Fury alleged that the heavyweight world champ – who stunned AJ back in June – has been ‘has been running around in a lot of Rolls Royces and doing a lot of TV shows’.
The Gypsy King said: “If Andy Ruiz comes in, in-shape and has trained, then I think he does the same again. But one thing I know is AJ trains hard and he dedicates his life to boxing.
“I know that Ruiz has been running around in a lot of Rolls Royces and doing a lot of TV shows, eating a lot of tacos and he’s not been in the gym for two-and-a-half months, because I’ve been speaking to the guys and nobody’s seen him.”
And Ruiz’s trainer Manny Robles seemed to back that up on August 21, revealing that his man is ‘not in great shape’ – but is set to return to the gym soon.
Robles told ESPN: “We’re working on getting back together this week.
“I was hoping it would be [Monday] but it wasn’t, so we’re definitely working on that right now. We didn’t have a training session [Monday], but we’re scheduled to start training this week.
“He’s not in great shape, but he’s hitting the gym back home in Imperial.”
Hearn told reporters on August 12: “I read several reports yesterday, both fighters have signed for this rematch fight.
“Both fighters have signed for the rematch and all governing bodies have confirmed the dates for this.”
But Ruiz posted a video to his Instagram just a day later, claiming that the ‘real’ date would be confirmed in due course.
He said: “I know everybody’s talking about the fight and all but we got the real news coming soon.
“The fight is going to happen soon. I’m trying to give hope, give motivation to all my people.”
Finally – on August 24 – Ruiz caved to pressure from the AJ camp and signed the rematch contract.
The pair WILL fight on December 7.
Will it take place in Saudi Arabia?
DURING Hearn’s announcement, he revealed that the fight would be taking place in Diriyah, just outside Riyadh.
Saudi Arabia is emerging as a popular place for fight promoters, with Amir Khan recently netting £10million for his win over Billy Dib in the country.
It’s reported that “in excess” of £33m was paid as a site fee for the fight to be held in the country, with a total of £83m stumped up by Middle Eastern investors.
Hearn has defended the decision to head into the desert – despite critics pointing to the countries human rights record.
He said: “We had approaches from Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
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How much are the fighters set to make?
PART of the delay is that Ruiz was reportedly angling for more than the £8m he would get for going toe-to-toe with Joshua again.
This was the figure agreed per the rematch clause BEFORE the Mexican shocked the world and battered Joshua to rip away his world titles in June.
But reports in the US suggested Ruiz Jr was not happy with the money on offer and wants to negotiate a better offer.
Joshua is believed to be earning at least double that £8m for the dust-up in the desert.
He is thought to have made £18m for the first fight two months ago with 25-1 outsider Ruiz taking £5m.
But the Middle East showdown in the winter is set to earn AJ a career high payday, whilst Ruiz may have to settle for around half what the former Olympian takes home.