Andy Ruiz knows what it takes to defeat Anthony Joshua, having beaten him in 2019, despite losing a rematch six months later.
The impact of that fight, Joshua’s first ever loss, is still being felt, as he was beaten by Oleksandr Usyk in London in September.
Some critics have suggested that Joshua is still reeling from that defeat to Ruiz at Madison Square Garden, and the Mexican-American agrees.
“I wouldn’t want to destroy anybody’s career at all, but I can see him being gun-shy and hesitating a little bit, and I can see him getting hurt,” said Ruiz when speaking to Brian Custer on The Last Stand.
“Maybe he’s a little scared of getting hurt because he doesn’t want the same thing happening.”
“It’s normal for fighters, and I think he needs to get his confidence back. I wouldn’t say I ruined him. I wouldn’t want to ruin anybody’s career.
“He is hesitating. He’s thinking too much instead of going in there and being the dog.”
Joshua will take on Usyk for a second time in a heavyweight rematch in 2022, where he’ll seek to prove Ruiz wrong.
Ruiz’s form
Ruiz suffered the second defeat of his career as he took on Joshua in a rematch in December 2019, having previously been beaten by Joseph Parker back in 2016.
Since those fights in 2019, he has only fought once, against Chris Arreola in May 2021, winning the fight.
