As the Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury fight has fallen through, it seems there are a bunch of opponents who’re waiting to get their hands on ‘AJ’. Over the past few days, it was reported that Oleksandr Usyk will confront Joshua for the mandatory WBO title defense. But with Eddie Hearn’s recent statements, it seems there’s another stout heavyweight in Andy Ruiz Jr., who’s waiting to fight Joshua again.

Speaking to iFL TV recently, Hearn said, “It’s like deja vu, he Instagram messaged me, ‘I’m ready, let’s do it, AJ vs Ruiz Jr III.’ That’s a fight we’d be interested in.” (h/t Michael Benson)

Joshua and Ruiz Jr. met each other for the first time in the summer of 2019. In their first in-ring encounter, the ‘Destroyer’ shook the entire fight world by defeating the Brit through a vicious T/KO. This fight is still cited among the biggest upsets of modern-day boxing.

But, ‘AJ’ avenged his loss when the pair locked horns with each other in the rematch. This fight went for full-fledged 12 rounds and Joshua came out right on top by executing his strategies. After that, he fought Kubrat Pulev and attained a sensational win to line himself up for an undisputed bout with his compatriot Tyson Fury.

However, this fight has failed to materialize and Ruiz Jr. wants to capitalize on the same. Even Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, in his above statement, asserted that he’d be interested in booking this massive trilogy between the hard-hitting heavyweights.

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Will Andy Ruiz Jr. really get to fight Anthony Joshua at this stage?

Andy Ruiz Jr. fought Chris Arreola earlier this month. This was his comeback fight, wherein the ‘Destroyer’ fought after a long layoff. A transformed Andy Ruiz Jr. etched a win in this fight, but it didn’t come so easily to him.

On the other side, the WBO has asked Joshua to face Usyk and defend his title in the near future. Considering that, the probabilities for Ruiz Jr. to face Joshua next seems to be pretty slim.

Moreover, before getting his hands on the British boxer again, Ruiz Jr. should put himself to the test against a couple more sturdy heavyweights. This will help him get a hang of the ring, thus improve him for a Joshua trilogy.

Ruiz Jr. or Oleksandr Usyk? Who should Joshua take on next?