283.7 pounds?
Any Ruiz Jr., who had talked about slimming down for his rematch with Anthony Joshua on Saturday in Saudi Arabia, weighed in today at 283.7 pounds. That’s 15 more than he weighed for their first fight, in June, and the most he’s weighed for a fight since he came in at 292½ for his second pro bout.
Joshua weighed 237.8, roughly 10 pounds less than he weighed for their first fight. That’s his lightest since he weighed 236½ when he fought Denis Bakhtov in 2014, which presumably means he’ll be more nimble in the fight.
Ruiz stunned the boxing world by putting Joshua down four times and stopping him the seventh round to win three of the four major heavyweight titles at Madison Square Garden in New York.
“They made us wait until 4:30, almost 5 p.m. here,” Ruiz said. “I already had ate breakfast, lunch and dinner. I had on a sombrero and all my clothes. A lot of people are saying that I came overweight or this and that. We had to wait so long. I probably put on like 10 pounds just eating and drinking normally today.”
Ruiz insists that he didn’t let his weight get away from him.
“We were lighter during camp,” he said, “but then I thought being the same weight or heavier would be an advantage. We did so many 12 rounds of sparring, so the conditioning is still there.”
Ruiz’s trainer, Manny Robles, had said on a conference call Thursday that his fighter would weigh around 268 again. It was clear then that Ruiz hadn’t slimmed down.
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However, the 283.7 figure was surprising.
What does it mean? Can we assume that Ruiz didn’t take his training seriously? After all, even if we believe that he put on 10 pounds eating today, he hasn’t weighed in the 270s for a fight in five years.
Or does that weight not matter as much as we presume? Ruiz has always been fat yet has had quick hands and moved well.
Of course, we’ll know a lot more when they step into the ring.
The card, in Diriyah, will be streamed live on DAZN.
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