It was rumbling in Saudi Arabia last night as the fight of the decade went down in Diriyah.
Clash on the Dunes, presented by PIF, saw Anthony Joshua reclaim his heavyweight title from Andy Ruiz. Joshua won by TKO and took back the WBA, IBF and WBO titles he lost in June at Madison Square Garden.
“The first time was so nice, I had to do it twice. You know the saying: stay hungry, stay humble,” said Joshua, according to news.com.au.
Ruiz faced criticism from the boxing community, as he showed up to the ring heavier than he was at the previous fight in Madison Square Garden.
Ruiz shared his thoughts after the fight. “If we do it again I’ll get in the best shape of my life,” he said.
“All I can do is try my best, make my prayers, stay dedicated and just do it for myself. If I box for the crowd, or box for people’s opinions I might not have been victorious tonight. I boxed on my own game plan, trusted my own process and now I’m the champion. So I’m just going to follow my own instincts while I’m boxing,” Ruiz said to The National. “I don’t want to give no excuses. He won, he boxed me around.”
Joshua too spoke like a true champion post the match, he credited his win to his perfect game plan execution.
He was also quoted by The National, saying he was hungry for the win and needed show people the sweet science of the sport as well.
“It’s not like a script, it’s not wrestling, and this is real life. And it’s dangerous, so I have to box to my game plan. My coaches devised a great strategy and I trusted in them and I followed it through.
“As I always say, I’m only champion until the next time I go out, because you don’t live forever. I came today, I was victorious and then I have to put them up in the air for the next competitor. Looking at the card today, you see all the challengers are hungry. It’s just going to be an interesting time for the heavyweight division. I’m just loving boxing.”
The night was just about Joshua winning keeping it simple and it led to a genius performance by both, but there could be only one winner. Ultimately, Joshua won convincingly.
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