Andy Ruiz confirms he is on the list to face Joshua

in a report first mentioned by ESPN,Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn told ESPN on Monday that heavyweight Andy Ruiz Jr. is another name you can add to the short list in taking on unified heavyweight titleholder Anthony Joshua on June 1 at New York’s Madison Square Garden. The replacement is needed to take on Joshua as original opponent Jarrell Miller, was ruled out of the contest after he had failed multiple drug tests last week.

Andy Ruiz on his Instagram account hinted as such by saying the following:

“I’m your opponent for June 1st. I’m here I’m ready. Sign your portion. It’s been a long time coming. We shoulda met few years ago when I fought for the WBO belt. Styles make fights I know my style is one that you haven’t met before. That WBO belt is actually mine because the whole world knows I beat Parker for it in New Zealand.”

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@anthony_joshua I’m your opponent for June 1st. I’m here I’m ready. Sign your portion. It’s been a long time coming. We shoulda met few years ago when I fought for the WBO belt. Styles make fights I know my style is one that you haven’t met before. That WBO belt is actually mine because the whole world knows I beat Parker for it in New Zealand. I’ve been waiting a long time to get these straps from you. U can hold them for me until June 1st. To anybody counting me out already get in line I’ve been counted out since I first started fighting. Nothing is stopping me now?. ??vs ?? @eddiehearn @premierboxing

A post shared by Andy Ruiz Jr (@andy_destroyer13) on Apr 22, 2019 at 12:26pm PDT

Ruiz (32-1, 21 KOs) hailing from Imperial, California, entered the picture after a fifth-round knockout of Alexander Dimitrenko on Saturday night in Carson, California on the same fight card as Danny Garcia-Adrian Granados. After the fight, he said he was interested in a fight against Joshua, amongst others. The win for Ruiz was his third in a row since losing by majority decision to Joseph Parker for the then-vacant World Boxing Organization title in December 2016. Parker was later beaten by Joshua in a unification bout in March 2018.

Hearn mentioned other potential opponents were Luis Ortiz, Michael Hunter, World Boxing Association (WBA) secondary title holder Manuel Charr, (WBA) Gold titlist Trevor Bryan and European champion Agit Kabayel rounding out the list.

In the event Ruiz doesn’t get a shot a Joshua, I wholeheartedly agree that he should definitely take on fellow Premier Boxing Champion stablemate Adam Kownacki. Hearn has stated he’ll announce the replacement at the end of the week to take on Joshua, I personally still believe the front-runner is Michael Hunter.

?️ Get this man Kownacki and a snickers! pic.twitter.com/CiPRV7wvEc

— FOX Sports: PBC (@PBConFOX) April 21, 2019