ANDY RUIZ JR has called for a trilogy fight with Anthony Joshua – who is now under the guidance of his former rival Oleksandr Usyk.
was stunned into his first-ever defeat in June 2019 by Ruiz in New York – before winning the rematch six months later in Saudi Arabia.
Andy Ruiz beat Anthony Joshua in June 2019 before losing the rematch Credit: The Sun
Joshua has now teamed up with Oleksandr Usyk
But AJ lost the unified world heavyweight titles in 2021 to and was unable to snatch them back in their rerun.
Now, four years later Joshua, 36, has
Ruiz, 36, told SunSport, courtesy of casino.org : “I think he desperately needed something different to help him feel better.
“There’s something that he doesn’t like in his form and training, and he wants to learn from the people that beat him.
“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. 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.”
Joshua has had just one fight with Usyk’s team – knocking out YouTuber-turned-boxer in six rounds of their Miami mismatch in December.
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takes on the king of kickboxing Rico Verhoeven and Fabio Wardley will defend his newly won heavyweight crown against fellow Brit .
will be hoping to return after his defeat to Terence Crawford, while Dave Allen will also be looking to get back to winning ways against Filip Hrgovic.
A whole bunch of British stars could also take a leap into superstardom, with the likes of , Hamzah Sheeraz and Adam Azim ready to join the very top of the sport.
April
- Sat 18 – Ben Whittaker vs Braiain Suarez – DAZN
- Sat 18 – Manny Pacquiao vs Ruslan Provodnikov
- Sat 25 – Lawrence Okolie vs Tony Yoka – DAZN
May
- Sat 2 – Naoya Inoue vs Junto Nakatani – Undisputed super-bantamweight title – TBC
- Sat 2 – Zurdo Ramirez vs David Benavidez – WBA & WBO Cruiserweight titles – Prime Video
- Sat 9 – Fabio Wardley vs Daniel Dubois – WBO title – DAZN PPV
- Sat 16 – Dave Allen vs Filip Hrgovic – DAZN
- Sat 23 – Oleksandr Usyk vs Rico Verhoeven – WBC title – DAZN
June
- Sat 6 – Dalton Smith vs Alberto Puello – WBC super lightweight title – DAZN
- Sat 13 – Tommy Fury vs Eddie Hall – DAZN
- Sat 20 – Ryan Garner vs Michael Magnesi – DAZN
- Sat 27 – Xander Zayas vs Jaron Ennis – DAZN
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But tragedy struck ten days later when he was involved in a car crash in Nigeria that claimed the lives of two of his close friends.
AJ is still grieving from the loss of childhood pal Kevin Latif Ayodele and recovery therapist Sina Ghami while also recovering from injuries.
Joshua is back in training and eyeing a July comeback bout – where Ruiz believes any improvement under Usyk’s team will become evident.
He said: “We won’t know until he fights again. I see he’s practicing his jabs and his distance. So those are pretty good things.
“He has so much muscle, so there is a lot of oxygen that you must control, so I think that’s why he gets tired fast.
“He opens up a lot too, so there’s a lot of flaws that I see that I could use against him. I could counter punch and control the fight.
“And with Usyk, his style is perfect for me. A lot of people don’t see it, but the real fighters that see my fights see that my style would give Usyk a lot of problems.”
Ruiz Jr beat Joshua in New York Credit: Getty Images – Getty
Joshua’s return would act as a tune-up fight for – who ended 16 months of retirement in April by beating Arslanbek Makhmudov.
Both British superstars have been linked with facing Ruiz in the past – but there is only one man the Mexican-American wants out of the pair.
He said: “I think I’d choose the trilogy with AJ because I want to redeem myself. I gave our rematch fight away.
“I weighed almost 300+lb, 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.”
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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