Ruiz rues three-month party as Joshua avenges loss

AD DIRIYAH, Saudi Arabia – Andy Ruiz blamed 3 months of partying for his one-sided world heavyweight championship defeat to Anthony Joshua, admitting he had failed to train seriously for his first title defense.

The 30-year-old Mexican-American stunned the world in June when he floored Joshua 4 times on the way to a sensational upset victory in their first fight at Madison Square Garden.

Ruiz had drawn gasps of disbelief when the weigh-in revealed he had ballooned to 283 pounds, fully 15 pounds heavier than his fighting weight 6 months ago.

His poor conditioning was ruthlessly exposed by Joshua, who nimbly outboxed the chubby champion on Saturday, December 7 (Sunday, December 8, Philippine time).

“Three months of partying and celebrating affected me, what can I say?” Ruiz told reporters after the fight.

Asked what he would do differently if granted a rematch with Joshua, Ruiz replied: “Listen to my coach. Listen to my dad. And take it more seriously.”

Ruiz, who was granted a ritzy homecoming parade in his Californian hometown of Imperial following his win in June, said he had started his training camp for the rematch too late.

Trainer Manny Robles had wanted Ruiz back in the gym in July, but he only started his camp in September.

“I’m okay, I’m just a little disappointed,” Ruiz said. “I should have listened to them. I tried to do the training on my own. I should have listened to them more. There’s no excuses… the partying and all that stuff got the best of me.”

Robles, meanwhile, refused to point the finger at Ruiz.

“You’ve got to be with your fighter 100 percent,” he said. “I’m not the first coach where situations happen in camp. I have to apologize to him because this is a team effort and when you don’t win it hurts. It always hurts.”

Ruiz, however, was able to take encouragement from the fight, insisting he would be a different proposition in a third encounter.

“For being out of shape I did pretty good, I took all his shots,” he said. “I got him a few times … If we’d have gone toe to toe … For the trilogy I know I’m going to be a lot better.”

“Being overweight, I wasn’t fluid enough, I wasn’t moving the way I wanted to move. I think if I’m lighter, I’m going to let my hands go and be a completely different fighter.” – Rappler.com