Anthony Joshua did exactly what he had to do against Andy Ruiz Jr in Saudi Arabia last night.
The Watford-born fighter won back the IBF, IBO WBO and WBA (super) titles he lost to the Mexican-American in Madison Square Garden back in June following a unanimous decision victory.
The first meeting between the two men saw Joshua knock Ruiz Jr down in the third round before being put down four times himself, leading to a seventh round stoppage.
This time around, there were no knockdowns and no early finish. AJ switched up his approached and boxed his way to victory.
That might not be the attractive way to win that some fans will want to see, but the now two-time champ says ‘simplicity is genius’.
Take a look:
Joshua stayed behind his jab and nullified the best parts of Ruiz’s game. He didn’t try and hook with a hooker and managed to open up cuts under both of Ruiz Jr’s eyes.
It was a performance reminiscent of his victory over Joseph Parker where it wasn’t all about the big finish, it was about winning.
Joshua looks like he will be forced to face Oleksandr Usyk before he can get to a potential unification fight with Deontay Wilder or Tyson Fury in 2020, but he welcomes that challenge.
