‘They made us wait… I ate breakfast, lunch and dinner’: Andy Ruiz Jnr defends weight gain ahead of his rematch against Anthony Joshua
Andy Ruiz Jnr has defended his weight gain ahead of his highly-anticipated rematch with Anthony Joshua.
The heavyweight world champion weighed in at 283lb on Friday afternoon in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which is 15lb heavier than what he scaled before upsetting Joshua at Madison Square Garden.
Joshua, who lost the IBF, WBA and WBO titles in New York, by contrast will arrive in the ring 10lb lighter than he was in June for his first fight againt Ruiz Jnr.
Andy Ruiz Jnr has defended his weight gain ahead of his rematch with Anthony Joshua
There have been suggestions that Ruiz Jnr is undercooked for the sequel in Saudi Arabia, but the boxer himself insisted his true weight is lower.
‘They made us wait until 4:30, almost 5pm here,’ he told The Athletic.
‘I already had ate breakfast, lunch and dinner, I had on a sombrero and all my clothes.
Ruiz Jnr weighed in at 283lb, 15lb heavier than what he scaled before upsetting Joshua in June
‘A lot of people are saying that I came overweight or this and that but we had to wait so long.
‘I probably put on 10 pounds just eating and drinking normally today. I would’ve been at like 268 without all that stuff and haven’t had eaten. If we weighed in at 11am I definitely would have been less.’
Similar taunts about Ruiz’s weight were aimed at him before he knocked down Joshua four times on the way to a seventh-round stoppage.
Anthony Joshua however weighed in 10lb lighter than he was in New York
And Ruiz Jnr stated that his current weight reflects his belief that he has found the formula to defeat Joshua.
‘Since I am bigger now, I can move him around more and hopefully have some extra pop on my punches.
‘We were lighter during camp 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. He is going to be boxing me around so I can stay with him. I want to be strong; I don’t want to worry about the weight.’
But Ruiz Jnr insists he has found the formula to defeat Joshua for a second time
Ruiz was also defended by his trainer Manny Robles who maintained there had been an error in recording his fighter’s weight.
Robles told ESPN Deportes : ‘I think yes, it was because of the conversion from kilos to pounds, you also have to bear in mind the increase with his clothes.
‘He is well prepared, like always.’