Andy Ruiz Jr. says ‘partying’ and ‘missing training’ caused Anthony Joshua loss

Andy Ruiz Jr. blames months of “partying” and not training enough as the reason why he lost to Anthony Joshua during their rematch in Saudi Arabia over the weekend.

On Saturday, the former unified heavyweight champion attempted to defend his titles in a rematch against Joshua. They first met in the ring six months ago, when Ruiz Jr won by technical knockout in the seventh round. However, the Mexican didn’t have the same success the second time around, as he was comprehensively out-pointed during their rematch.

After the fight, Ruiz reflected on the reasons for the loss, claiming his training wasn’t on-point.

“I should have trained harder,” he said (via The BBC). “I should have listened to my team and coaches. For this fight I was overweight. I didn’t move how I wanted to. The partying got the best of me.”

At the weigh-ins for the fight, it was revealed that the 30-year old had gained 15lbs since his June win against Joshua. Even the fight’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, was shocked by the star’s significant weight gain.

“I was actually expecting him to come in a little bit lighter,” Hearn said. “But Ruiz actually said to me, ‘Ah, it’s ’cause I just had lunch.’ I was like, ‘What did you eat? Your trainer?’”

Post-fight, Ruiz acknowledged his mistakes and vowed to be “a lot better” if he got the chance to fight Joshua for a third time.

“I put on the weight and it was my mistake. No one knows about the training we had. We did the best we can.

“Being a champion for the first time, being over here and there and missing training, it was hard.

“For the trilogy, I will be a lot better. I want to redeem myself in Saudi Arabia.”

Ruiz concluded:

“I don’t want to say the three months of partying or celebrating didn’t affect me, as to tell you the truth it kind of did. There’s no excuses. The partying got the best of me. The next fight is going to be a lot different.

“People are still doubting me. I am still a dangerous fighter to anyone in the division. At 100% I can dominate anyone in the world.

“You best believe I am going to come back and be the heavyweight champion of the world once again.”

What did you think of the performance Andy Ruiz Jr. put forth in Saudi Arabia?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 12/9/2019.