Andy Ruiz Jr vs Anthony Joshua II Odds & Picks
- Ruiz Jr vs Joshua II goes Saturday, December 7th at 3:30 pm EST
- Can Ruiz go 2-0 over Joshua and illustrate that the first fight wasn’t a fluke?
- Can Joshua defeat Ruiz and once again become heavyweight champion of the world?
Ruiz Jr vs Joshua II is a hotly anticipated rematch. The event emanates from Diriyah Arena in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia. Four gold belts will be up for grabs in this overseas clash. Ruiz will look to defend his WBA, IBF, IBO, and WBO world titles against the man he took them from earlier this year.
The first fight went down in Madison Square Garden but the two move from New York to put on the biggest prizefight in the history of Saudia Arabia. It goes live on DAZN. Check out the odds for the rematch and my analysis of Ruiz Jr vs Joshua II below.
Ruiz Jr vs Joshua II Odds
| Fighter | Odds |
|---|---|
| Andy Ruiz Jr | +175 |
| Anthony Joshua | -225 |
Odds taken Dec. 3
The initial bout was quite a tumultuous affair. Joshua was able to drop Ruiz Jr earlier in the contest but it seemed like that only heated up the challenger’s competitive fire. He would go on to drop Joshua four times en route to a seventh-round TKO victory.
It was one of the all-time huge upsets in heavyweight boxing and they’re running it back just over six months later. Joshua is still the betting favorite but the gap is much closer than it was heading into the first fight. I see the series getting tied up between these two come Saturday.
Joshua Reclaims the Belts
Both men have noticeably more slender figures heading into this bout. Much was made about Ruiz Jr being a heavier set man that ended up winning the world title. Several memes rolled out after that fight with the focus being on Ruiz Jr’s size. He has clearly responded to this by coming into the rematch with an obviously leaner figure and is on track to be almost 15lbs lighter for the rematch.
The same can be said for Joshua who has clear differences in his striated muscle despite coming into the initial bout still looking like an adonis, albeit a bit bulkier.
? @anthonyfjoshua on how his mental game has changed since losing to @Andy_destroyer1
? https://t.co/ZcuzdlIdYU#RuizJoshua2 pic.twitter.com/h3QS4X4ji0
— Boxing News TV (@boxingnewstv) December 3, 2019
An interesting narrative tendril to this fight is what happened to Joshua in sparring ahead of both Ruiz fights. There were rumblings that Joshua got knocked out in sparring ahead of the first fight and some more reports have come out about similar sparring damage ahead of the rematch.
This is a high-risk fight for AJ. His run as a champion heavyweight could potentially be derailed if he suffers back to back losses to Ruiz Jr. A loss for Ruiz Jr definitely wouldn’t be great but it would not be nearly as detrimental to his career progression as compared to what a loss for Joshua would do.
Ruiz Jr vs Joshua II Tale of the Tape
| 33-1 | Record | 22-1 |
| 22 | Knockouts | 21 |
| 6’2 | Height | 6’6 |
| 74″ | Reach | 82″ |
| Anthony Joshua, Alexander Dimitrenko, Kevin Johnson | Significant Wins | Wladimir Klitschko, Alexander Povetkin, Joseph Parker |
| orthodox | Stance | orthodox |
Joshua is of the belief that he was halfway towards winning but got overzealous with the early knockdown of Ruiz Jr. AJ feels like he has made the necessary adjustments on a mental and physical level to get that desired outcome in the rematch. There are additional high stakes with the winner positioning themselves favorably to fight someone like Deontay Wilder or Tyson Fury in 2020.
I see Joshua getting himself back into that conversation after this weekend. I think AJ gets it done when Ruiz Jr vs Joshua II goes down.
Pick: Anthony Joshua (-225)
A part-time writer and full-time broadcaster, Dylan has hosted MMA talk shows Lights Out and Pure Fight Radio with featured guests like Jens Pulver, Roy Nelson, Miesha Tate, and covered some of the biggest MMA promotions like Rumble in the Cage, Unified MMA, and King of the Cage.
