Advertisement

Andy Ruiz Jr 'not in great shape' with training camp for Anthony Joshua rematch set to begin

Andy Ruiz Jr’s trainer says his fighter is currently out of shape ahead of December’s heavyweight title rematch against Anthony Joshua.

Ruiz Jr took Joshua’s IBF, WBA (Super) and WBO world titles after a stunning upset at Madison Square Garden on 1 June, sending the Briton to the mat four times en route to a seventh round victory in New York.

A rematch has been set for December 7 in Saudi Arabia with Ruiz’s trainer Manny Robles making plans for his fighter to begin training on Monday this week.

Those plans did not come about, however. Robles told ESPN: "We're working on getting back together this week. I was hoping it would be [Monday] but it wasn't, so we're definitely working on that right now.

"We didn't have a training session [Monday], but we're scheduled to start training this week."

Robles also admits Ruiz will be returning to training out of shape but with over four months before that December fight date, he is confident of getting his man up to speed.

"He's not in great shape, but he's hitting the gym back home in Imperial. He's running the treadmill, but obviously we haven't fully begun training camp," Robles said.

"Once we do we have [close to] four months to get ready for a fight. That's enough time to get him in shape. Let's hope we can get him back in the gym real soon and get him going again."