Heavyweight Champion Andy Ruiz Jr has reportedly agreed for his rematch against Anthony Joshua to take place in Saudi Arabia.
And the unified heavyweight world champ will earn “millions more” than the original figure of £8m he agreed to before their first fight. According tomedia reports, the Mexican is happy to go ahead with the Middle East dust-up despite there being rumours he had ‘security concerns’.
While Ruiz was contractually tied to an immediate rematch, he seemed to want the scrap to take place either in the US or his homeland of Mexico.
It was announced at the start of the month by Hearn and Joshua that the deal had been done for the pair to go at it for Part II on December 7 in Diriyah. But reports in the US suggested Ruiz Jr was not happy with the money on offer, with the original contract signed BEFORE their first fight.
Joshua is believed to be earning at least double the £8m Ruiz would get for the dust-up in the desert. Hearn warned the Mexican that he was “under contract” for the rematch – with a veiled threat of legal action if he tried to pull out.
He said: “The contract for the rematch was signed prior to the first fight. They were both signed at the same time. There is no other contract. We have to let (Andy and his team) know the time, date and venue which we have done. That’s it. They are contractually bound for the rematch. There are no conversations between the two teams about not doing the fight. I don’t perceive a problem.
“He signed a contract with us that he was absolutely over the moon with. That gave him the opportunity of a lifetime. He will 100 per cent honour that contract. His choice is to have a legal battle that could put him out of boxing for years, or to defend his belts for a lot of money against a guy he has already beaten. There isn’t any doubt he will take the fight. Any messing around and Ruiz Jr will lose belts, and he won’t want to do that. We expect the IBF, WBA and WBO belts to be on the line.”
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