Andy Ruiz Jr. vs Anthony Joshua II, billed as Clash On The Dunes, was a heavyweight professional boxing rematch between the Mexican-American champion Andy Ruiz Jr. and British former champion Anthony Joshua, for the unified WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight world titles. The event took place on December 7, 2019, at the Diriyah Arena, Diriyah, Saudi Arabia. Joshua won the bout via unanimous decision. The bout between Ruiz and Joshua was refereed by Luis Pabon.
Background
After losing by seventh-round technical knockout to Andy Ruiz Jr. on June 1, 2019, at Madison Square Garden in New York City in one of the biggest upsets in the history of boxing, Joshua stated in a post-fight interview that he and his team certainly expected to exercise the rematch clause with Ruiz. Four days after the fight took place, Joshua's promoter and group managing director of Matchroom Sport Eddie Hearn announced on social media platforms that Joshua's management team triggered the contractual rematch clause with Ruiz.
Saudi Arabian authorities reportedly paid £30 million ($41.1 million) to host the event in Saudi Arabia.
The fight
Joshua dominated the fight, landing smart jabs and right hands throughout enroute to a wide unanimous decision victory with two judges scoring the bout 118-110 and the other 119-109.
Aftermath
After his wide defeat Ruiz expressed interest in a third bout with Joshua, saying "I was chasing him too much. Who wants to see the trilogy fight?"
28 сен 2024
