Boxing

Anthony Joshua method of victory: British boxer to defeat Ruiz Jr. by knockout

4 years ago

| BY News Team

Anthony Joshua faces Andy Ruiz Jr. on December 7 in a titanic rematch in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia for the IBF, WBA, WBO and IBO world heavyweight titles.

Ahead of ‘Clash On The Dunes’, we take a look at the markets and the Joshua method of victory odds, which have the British heavyweight projected to defeat Ruiz Jr. by knockout at 8/11.

Anthony Joshua method of victory: KO, TKO or DQ at 8/11

Trading at 8/11, the bookies reckon the Watford warrior’s most likely course of victory will be through a knockout, technical knockout or disqualification.

Despite Ruiz Jr. having tasted defeat in his boxing career only once and stopping Joshua in the seventh round in their first fight, William Hill’s traders have Joshua as a 2/5 favourite in the bout betting with Ruiz Jr.’s odds trading at 2/1.

While Ruiz Jr. has suffered just one defeat across his boxing career, against Joseph Parker for the WBO world heavyweight title in 2016, and that coming through a majority points decision for the New Zealand boxer, Joshua will still fancy his chances of doing what he didn’t do against Ruiz Jr. first time around – knocking him out.

With 21 of Joshua’s 22 professional career wins having come in the form of a knockout – the exception to that being his win on points in his own fight against Parker in 2018 – it’s understandable why the odds of the Briton adding to that tally on December 7 are so suggestive at 8/11.

The traders believe Joshua will have a new-found focus on getting revenge over Ruiz Jr. after his defeat in New York last time around in June and it’s hard to see past him landing a knockout on his opponent.

Anthony Joshua method of victory: Majority or technical decision betting at 7/2

As mentioned, with 21 of Joshua’s 22 professional career wins having come in the form of a knockout – and the suggestive 8/11 odds of that happening again against Ruiz Jr. – you might be wondering whether there was value in any other market for this heavyweight bout.

Ruiz Jr. has never lost by knockout in his career to date and will be full of confidence coming into this one with the IBF, WBA, WBO and IBO world heavyweight titles to his name.

You may feel, therefore, that the 30-year-old will have enough in him to go the full 12 rounds against Joshua in Diriyah – like he did against Parker – and that a majority or technical decision in Joshua’s favour is the better bet to place, particularly given the superior odds on offer of 7/2.

Joshua has been the full 12 rounds just once, again with the opponent in the form of Parker, who he expertly out-boxed across the full 36 minutes in order to secure a decision. With Ruiz Jr.’s durability in mind, it’s not unlikely that this could act as Joshua’s primary tactic in the rematch.

However, with Joshua – who at 6”6 towers over the 6”2 Ruiz Jr. – out for revenge for the first time in his career, our betting prediction remains that the fight will not go the distance, with the Briton securing a knockout victory before then.