It was, as fight fans know, announced on Friday how the massive (and massively intriguing) return fight between heavyweights Andy Ruiz and Anthony Joshua is all set, to take place in Saudi Arabia on December 7th. However, some potentially worrying reports have since surfaced that say Ruiz has yet to sign the fight contract and that “The Destroyer” will not do so unless his fight purse is bumped up significantly.
As per a news story from The Athletic, Ruiz is digging his heels in for a far bigger purse than the $9 million he is said to have agreed to when he signed on for the first fight with Joshua, back in May (the fight taking place on June 1, with big underdog Ruiz pulling off the monster upset). There was a rematch clause in place, with Ruiz’ second payday being the $9milion. But now, in light of how much money the Saudi billionaires have put up for the rematch (some reports saying AJ, the challenger, will pick up something in the region of £40 milion), Ruiz is demanding a much bigger slice of the action.
Who can blame him, right?
Who knows if the fight is actually in any real jeapordy or not. If Ruiz put pen to paper ahead of the first Joshua fight and if he is therefore legally bound to the agreed payday for fight-two, it seems Ruiz would lose any fight in court. Then again, no one can make Ruiz fight.
What say you, is Ruiz guilty of being greedy and should he go ahead and fight the rematch for the $9 million he is said to have agreed to and signed off on. Or is the champ deserving of a pay increase due to how much big, big money has been put forth for the Joshua return?
From a fan standpoint, let’s just hope the fight does go ahead without a hitch. The last thing we want to see is a long delay with both fighters and their teams getting bogged down in a court case.
We fans want to see what happens when Ruiz and Joshua rumble a second time. Can Ruiz repeat his big win, or will Joshua prove that the Mexican/American was merely the beneficiary of one huge fluke in New York just over two months ago?
Manny Robles: “You haven’t heard anything from Andy Ruiz & there’s a reason why. You’ve got the promoter going out on a limb saying we’re fighting Dec 7th in Saudi, but you haven’t heard anything from Andy. Everybody has to hold off & wait.”