Put Your Money On Joshua to Knockout Ruiz Jr Early On

When rank outsider Andy Ruiz Jr handed IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight champion Anthona Joshua a technical knockout back in June it’s fair to say the sporting world was nothing less than astonished.

The portly Mexican was certainly not expected to trouble the unbeaten fighter, let alone knock him to the canvas on four occasions before the referee brought to Madison Square Garden fight to a premature end in the seventh round.

Don’t expect lightning to strike twice when the two go toe to toe in a controversial rematch in Saudi Arabia, the location having upset many given the country’s human rights abuses.

At first glance it’s pretty clear which of the two fighters is in better shape, as was the case last time around, with Joshua 6ft 6in frame coming in at under 250 pounds whereas Ruiz Jr stands a full six inches shorter but weighs a good 20 pounds more, and it shows.

Looks can be deceiving though. 

The betting odds reflect the fact that Joshua is the favorite, the British boxer coming at 4/9 with most US sportsbooks though it’s worth noting that he was a 1/33 certainty ahead of their first fight, so it’s a sign of the shaky nature the bookmakers have about what could transpire on Saturday.

Joshua had an unblemished 22-0 record before that fight and is considered by most to be the far superior fighter and it’s worth making your bet on the 30-year-old winning this one with rounds to spare.

One of our favorite US sportsbooks, MyBookie, has some very competitive boxing betting lines on this, and other, fights and is well worth a look.

If you are looking to win big then a wager on Joshua ending the fight in the first round can be found at a very tasty 28/1 and if the Olympic gold medalist feels sufficiently pumped up due to the shock defeat earlier this year then perhaps this isn’t as outlandish as it seems.