Anthony Joshua vs Andy Ruiz rematch: Dereck Chisora backs Brit to make ‘amazing comeback’
The fellow Finchley Amateur Boxing Club graduate believes Joshua will avenge his shock defeat
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Your support makes all the difference.Dereck Chisora says former world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua is right to pursue an immediate rematch with Andy Ruiz Jr and has backed his fellow Finchley Amateur Boxing Club graduate to make an 'amazing’ comeback.
Joshua was stunned by 12/1 outsider Ruiz in New York on June 1 and surrendered his WBO, WBA and IBF heavyweight titles as a result of an unforgettable seventh-round stoppage which rocked the boxing world to its core.
The 29-year-old Londoner is now expected to take on Ruiz in an instant return per the terms of their initial fight contract and they may even collide for a second time back at Madison Square Garden this winter.
Many have questioned Joshua's decision to get straight back in against a man who dropped him four times en route to such a convincing victory. Chisora's manager David Haye, for instance, reckons Joshua might be better served by winning a few fights to regain some confidence before any rematch.
But Chisora, who takes on former football hooligan Artur Szpilka at the o2 Arena on July 20, believes Joshua is doing the correct thing and will prove any doubters wrong before the year is out.
“There is nothing else to do other than the rematch,” said Chisora. “He has to go straight back in. What else is he going to do And he wins the rematch. He just had one bad day in the office.
“If you don't have your gameplan right, as a big man against a little man, you are in trouble.
“It's easier for a smaller man to come up than it is for a big man to go down but I think Joshua’s comeback will be amazing.
“I wrote the Mexican off, I said in an interview on Mexican TV that Eddie Hearn should be arrested because he should be done for manslaughter. I told them to call the police and send someone to jail.
“The same channel then tried to interview me after the fight so I ran off.”
But 35-year-old Chisora, who still harbours ambitions of winning a world title, says watching Ruiz stun Joshua has boosted his own confidence. It has even made the hard yards done with trainer Dave Coldwell in Rotherham easier to stomach.
He said: “It's exciting to be anyone right now, ripped, skinny or fat, everyone is just excited.
“What happened in New York is why boxing is amazing, the unexpected happens, it's crazy and why we love it.
“Right now I need patience with Dave, grinding it down and working on a snappy jab, the rest will follow. But I only lasted four nights in the Holiday Inn in Rotherham where Tony Bellew used to stay.
“I called him two weeks ago and said 'How the hell did you do it?' Bellew told me: 'The only way I did was becoming a member in the cinema across the road and seeing two films a day'. That's how boring it is. Just training, eating and rest. I just watch Netflix.”
Meanwhile, Haye, sat alongside Chisora in a hotel executive suite with sweeping views of the River Thames, disagreed with his client on how Joshua should approach getting his belts back from Ruiz.
And the former world cruiserweight and heavyweight champion suggested that the London 2012 Olympic champion should take inspiration from the way Muhammad Ali bounced back from his first career defeat.
Ali was famously beaten by Joe Frazier in the 1971 'Fight of the Century', incidentally in the very same ring that Ruiz despatched Joshua earlier this month.
But after dropping a unanimous decision after 15 gruelling rounds, Ali, who was floored in the final stanza, did not seek revenge straight away.
Indeed, he did not get his hands on Frazier again for another three years and 13 fights, when he finally beat him over 12 rounds back at the iconic Manhattan venue.
Haye said: “This rematch is really pivotal to his career and the heavyweight division. In the first fight he didn't look right but in the rematch we will find out exactly what's up.
“Lennox Lewis showed us what he was about in rematches against Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman and his legacy is that he's beaten every man he's ever faced. Maybe that will be the case with AJ but if the same thing happens again then that's a tough one to come back from.
“Muhammad Ali had 13 fights after he lost to Joe Frazier before he had the rematch. Maybe AJ needs to do the same, go and have a few fights against people of the same shape and size as Ruiz to give him the practice.
“But if he decides to have two or three fights before the rematch, people will crucify him for that. Ali lost to Frazier and had 13 fights before he beat him.
“I don't believe Joshua doing what he did last time in preparation will be enough for him to win the rematch. He needs to do something significantly more dramatic.”
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