Vinny’s Views: Andy Ruiz, JR Vs Anthony Joshua II – The Stats, The Facts & The RSR Fight Prediction Is In!
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By Vinny “Glory Days” Lucci
Ever hear the expression “I flopped a nut straight” as it refers to poker? It simply means in a head’s up no limit game, you check your opponent and wait for him to go all in betting everything on a single hand when last river card is exposed than raising the bet with a better hand.
The Event:
On December 7th promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Sport will roll the dice to see if Lady Luck is any kinder in rematch of former champion Anthony Joshua versing Andy Ruiz, JR. with the WBA, WBO and IBF titles at stake. This event will be hosted at the Diriyah Arena, Diriyah, Saudi Arabia and broadcast exclusively on DAZN live streaming service.
Backstory to rematch had the gents first square off among snickers on June 1st at Madison Square Garden in New York City where the contrast in body types had all but the Ruiz, JR. camp believing it was a foregone conclusion before ink was dry on contract. Ruiz JR. was a late substitute when original opponent Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller twice came up dirty by VADA (Voluntary Ant-i Doping Association) for performance enhancing drugs. Andy made the most of opportunity by stopping the favored champion by TKO in seven. Joshua had dropped Ruiz, JR. in the third round for the first time in challenger’s career only to have him rise like an irritated bear and return the favor in kind. The challenger dropped the champion two more times in seventh prompting referee to wave off contest. Joshua asked Hearn to enforce immediate rematch clause forsaking a tune up. There were allegations and rumors surrounding the shocking upset victory that Joshua had suffered a panic attack in dressing room before ring entrance as well as having been concussed in training. The bout was considered of the biggest upsets in heavyweight history with Ruiz, JR. bucking the Vegas odds of Joshua at -2000, himself at +800.
Stats:
The champion Andy Ruiz, JR. is an American boxer who hails from Imperial Valley California and of Mexican descent. Standing 6’2” with a limited wingspan of 74” he is 30 years old and owns a ledger of 33-1, 22 KO’s. Until preparation for this bout the orthodox boxer has sported a heavy bag for a gut which actually camouflaged his hand speed. He has been working diligently on road and gym work in shredding the unsightly poundage upping his hand speed and footwork. His sole loss came to Joseph Parker by MD back in December 2016 for vacant WBO title.
The challenger Anthony Joshua stands an imposing 6’6” with a herculean frame that appears chiseled in stone. The orthodox boxer hails from Watford, Hertfordshire England with an 84” wingspan. His record was rather exemplary prior to Ruiz, JR. match which now reads 22-1, 21 KO’s. Joshua made six successful defenses turning back capable challengers while sometimes exposing a suspect chin.
What to look for fight night:
First time around was a fascinating clash of styles and body types that soared above fans wildest expectations. Joshua fights tall and slow behind calculated and pawing jab looking for an opening to exploit with a single blow before allowing combinations to flow. Ruiz, JR. is a very busy brawler with vastly under rated boxing skills. He lives for the pocket where he can take his adversary’s jab away and deliver two fisted attack which comes from within a short comfortable arch from either side of gate which tends to beguile opponents as most of its snap is delivered from elbow to fist rather than getting his shoulders behind his punches. What he has done to compensate for the lack of leverage with his abdomen in the way is to lean forward getting his body weight behind them and using his legs properly to generate power with forward momentum.
Regardless of both camps promising to make the necessary improvements in altering body types to ensure victory the exchanges will still resemble the first encounter.
The Joshua camp has long been ridiculed for stifling the fighter’s fluidity and boxing skills by making him muscle bound with an overabundance of weight lifting and promise to shed some bulk in order to access some much needed speed.
The Ruiz,, JR. camp has also shed weight which has notably come off his waist in order to end ridicule and prove the first encounter was no fluke.
The Vinny Factor:
In their first encounter being able to bench press Buicks didn’t help Joshua. Having an enormous 8” reach disadvantage didn’t hinder Ruiz, JR. so thinking outside the quadrilateral parallelogram we call a ring one has to ponder which fighter will actually find the new and improved version of themself more a hindrance than a positive reinforcement. With both men 30 years of age and scant time to assimilate the physical changes incorporated for speed and agility the new process of fine tuning must come under scrutiny.
Will Anthony be better suited to absorb getting his whiskers chin tagged with less muscle mass after a six year pro career where the layers of sinew gave him extraordinary confidence? If Joshua has shown a suspect chin in the past resembling Thor how will he respond differently with less shock absorbers to keep him vertical?
On a positive note in theory should the former champion get deep into the fight the lack of exaggerated muscle could help improve his stamina as the muscles wouldn’t need as much oxygen in the blood and help forgo fatigue.
Same could be true of Andy as his dramatic weight loss could impair his punching power with less weight behind his combinations as well as the ability to endure punishment.
Odds:
Vegas has bought into the Joshua camps excuses by dismissing the champion’s win as dumb luck, again making Joshua the favorite at -350, with Ruiz, JR. at +250.
RSR Prediction:
There is an old adage,” Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” The logistics of going with Joshua in June proved to be Ringside Report’s only wrong pick this year. No matter how many excuses people make for the ex-champion it’s impossible to erase the memory of Ruiz, JR. confidence bull rushing into the pocket on a search and destroy mission looking for Joshua’s chin and finding it with relative ease. The selection here is Andy Ruiz, JR. to retain belts.
Aftermath:
Should Joshua look terrific and flop a nut straight it will bring credence to the back stories of him having an off night and dismiss the first encounter as a fluke. But should he fail to turn Ruiz, JR. back into a contender his entire reign will be considered a side show to Deontay Wilder’s tenure as WBC champion.
Stay tuned…
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