Ryad (AFP)
Britain's Anthony Joshua took revenge on American Andy Ruiz and recovered his world titles IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight by winning points on Saturday in Diriya (Saudi Arabia).
Joshua (30, 23 wins including 21 knockouts, 1 loss) lost his seat belts to a surprise June 1st at New York's Madison Square Garden against Ruiz, knocked out in the seventh round, suffering the first defeat of his career .
He managed to revive this time by relying on a more cautious tactic in a less spectacular fight. Distrustful and vigilant, the Great Briton (1.98m) maintained the distance with the blubber Ruiz (30 years, 33 wins including 22 knockouts, 2 losses), which has not endangered his challenger very little.
Open to the left arcade from the first time, the American of Mexican origin has not stopped advancing on his opponent but seemed more clumsy than June in New York. At the pre-combat weigh-in, Ruiz had weighed seven kilos more than six months ago (128,36).
The organization of this fight in Saudi Arabia was part of the sports diplomacy undertaken by the powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. A 15,000-seat arena was specially built for the occasion in the suburbs of Riyadh and to ensure the arrival of the two boxers, more than 100 million dollars would have been placed on the table: 60 for Joshua, 40 for the Matchroom Boxing promoter and 9 for Ruiz.
Amnesty International has, however, sharply criticized Saudi Arabia's choice, denouncing the war that Riyadh has led since 2015 at the head of a coalition in Yemen, the October 2018 assassination in Turkey of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and, in general, repression. of dissent
In addition to boxing, Saudi Arabia has just hosted the E-Prize for electric formula and will soon organize a tennis exhibition (December 12-14), the Dakar-2020 rally (January 5-17) and the Supercup Spain football for the next three seasons.
© 2019 AFP