Watched by millions of fans, heavyweight stars Andy Ruiz and Anthony Joshua officially weighed-in moments ago in Saudi Arabia. The big, as in BIG, talking point after the weigh-in was the heavy, as in really heavy, weight defending champ Ruiz tipped-in at – 283.7 pounds. Joshua came in light, as in quite surprisingly light – 237 pounds.
Ruiz, who kept his t-shirt/vest on whilst taking to the scale today, came in at 268 pounds for the first fight with Joshua, and he said after having shocked the world that he would come in lighter “looking more like you guys want me to look,” for the rematch. Instead, “The Destroyer” has added over 15 pounds to his frame. Let’s hope Ruiz has not been destroying too many burritos and pizzas during the six months he has had since winning the titles.
There has been concern, all of it downplayed by Ruiz, that he did enjoy himself too much after changing his entire life with that massive win in New York. We won’t know until the fight gets underway – and, as he showed us all last time, Ruiz’ weight and his body-type does not stop him from fighting very effectively – but the thinking is, carrying such a vast amount of weight may well prove to tire Ruiz out if the fight goes into the later rounds.
Joshua looked superb on the scale today, but then he always does. Having dropped just over ten pounds since the first fight, it seems Joshua’s game-plan is easy to read: he will look to use his speed, his movement and set a fast pace. Still, some fans have wondered, has Joshua made the mistake of coming in too light? Again, we will not know until the fight gets underway.
Another big guy who raised a few eyebrows with his official poundage today is the returning Dillian Whyte. Whyte, who faces Mariuz Wach, came in at a career-heaviest 271.1. Has the time he has spent out of the ring been nothing but detrimental to Whyte and in a big way? Wach came in at 270, which is about normal for him.
Michael Hunter came in at 226.8 for his fight against Alexander Povetkin, who weighed 229.3. Eric Molina looked in good shape at 248 for his fight with Filip Hrgovic, who came in at 241.
The big talking point, though is the weight of Ruiz. Has he been partying too much? Is Ruiz destined to “do a Buster Douglas” and get beaten, largely by himself and by his lack of discipline, in his first world title defence? No doubt Joshua supporters will have liked what they saw today (aside, perhaps, from worrying how AJ has maybe dropped a little too much weight.)
