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What do you think about Ruiz vs Joshua taking place in Saudi Arabia?


The_budweiser
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Surely where the second fight takes place should have been already agreed before the first fight? It's very poor from Eddie Hearn that the rematch venue wasn’t already agreed as part of the contract especially considering Joshua travelled to the US for the first fight. Maybe Hearn, like Joshua just expected all they had to do was turn up to win the fight and its backfired!

 

Personally I think it’s just pure greed that the fight is taking place in Saudi Arabia. The amount of money Joshua has earned from British fight fans, it’s like he doesn’t care and is only going after the ££££. Surely a fight in England or Wales brings enough money for both fighters to be happy?

 

 

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Re: What do you think about Ruiz vs Joshua taking place in Saudi Arabia?

 

I don't see the importance of having secured or announced the venue before the first fight. If the contract says Matchroom selects the venue for the rematch and the opponent agrees to fight there regardless then that would seem good enough. The problem is Haymon and regardless of what the contract says, he knows that he can make things difficult and since his pockets are deep, maybe he's thinking that the cost of defending Ruiz Jr against legal action is a lesser of the potential costs, all things considered. In this instance, it wouldn't make a difference if the contract that Ruiz Jr originally signed said that he agreed to fight in Saudi Arabia on Dec 7th. If the goal is to fragment the championship even further and get his fighters a piece of it whilst fighting legal action in the meantime, then the contract is worthless.

 

What I will say though is that whatever the situation this is extremely distasteful and dishonourable. Ruiz Jr shouldn't be giving trouble, real men don't act like this, they sign something and then follow through without trying to worm their way out of it.

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Re: What do you think about Ruiz vs Joshua taking place in Saudi Arabia?

 

I don't see the importance of having secured or announced the venue before the first fight. If the contract says Matchroom selects the venue for the rematch and the opponent agrees to fight there regardless then that would seem good enough. The problem is Haymon and regardless of what the contract says, he knows that he can make things difficult and since his pockets are deep, maybe he's thinking that the cost of defending Ruiz Jr against legal action is a lesser of the potential costs, all things considered. In this instance, it wouldn't make a difference if the contract that Ruiz Jr originally signed said that he agreed to fight in Saudi Arabia on Dec 7th. If the goal is to fragment the championship even further and get his fighters a piece of it whilst fighting legal action in the meantime, then the contract is worthless.

 

What I will say though is that whatever the situation this is extremely distasteful and dishonourable. Ruiz Jr shouldn't be giving trouble, real men don't act like this, they sign something and then follow through without trying to worm their way out of it.

 

@Gerald just posted a link and it says Hearn has to let them know the time, date, venue etc.... So going by Hearns comments there is no other reason for the fight taking place there than ££££. So much for Mr Humble who loves his fans.

 

“The contract for the rematch was signed prior to the first fight,” Hearn told Sky Sports. “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.”

 

Ruiz on Instagram said: "We’re going to bring it back here in the United States. It’s like I said, I don’t have no protection over there (Saudi Arabia).”

 

It looks like Ruiz team are still trying to get the fight in USA.

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Re: What do you think about Ruiz vs Joshua taking place in Saudi Arabia?

 

Ruiz on Instagram said: "We’re going to bring it back here in the United States. It’s like I said, I don’t have no protection over there (Saudi Arabia).”

 

It looks like Ruiz team are still trying to get the fight in USA.

 

Yep and if there's no agreement to that effect, Ruiz Jr will start throwing his toys out the pram and whilst Matchroom are taking him to court, the sanctioning bodies will start stripping him, IBF first of course and then a Haymon fighter will be fighting for the vacant belt. They lose the court case, don't fight Joshua anyway and just pay the money and Matchroom are without a heavyweight champion and Haymon has at least two heavyweight champions.

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Re: What do you think about Ruiz vs Joshua taking place in Saudi Arabia?

 

--- We ain't privy to the personal details of the fighters as regards to the site in mainstream media as of yesterday that I recall, but pt in fact Haymon thru Fat Andy secured all the belts without making a dime. He now enters as the ultimate Kingmaker looking to derail his only competition, Eddie and DAZN via Josh.

 

Going to check the news sites for further developments, but a damned shame the rematch hinges on squabbling suits.

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Re: What do you think about Ruiz vs Joshua taking place in Saudi Arabia?

 

I just can't see what can be possibly gained from that fight taking place there. It can only serve to anger certain people that already aren't fans of boxing furthermore. Not that I care, but come on-Saudi Arabia, REALLY??! Macau, Monaco both would make better hosts.

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Re: What do you think about Ruiz vs Joshua taking place in Saudi Arabia?

 

--- OK, this today from Fat Dan has Eddie stating he's already signed off with Andy's promoter, Tom Brown on pre fight pressers, but what if??

 

Haymon offers Ruiz $20mil to retire for life: that leaves 3 vacant belts soon to be fought for, but by whom???

 

Devil's in the details...

 

And here's the Fat Dan link I forgot to include:

 

Ruiz balks at fighting Joshua in Saudi Arabia

Edited by LondonRingRules
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Re: What do you think about Ruiz vs Joshua taking place in Saudi Arabia?

 

I think Ruiz management is holding out for a few more million. I understand that. once a few more come in, then Andy is going to Saudi.

 

Don't see why Hearn would give him extra £££ when the terms were apparently agreed prior to the first fight.

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Re: What do you think about Ruiz vs Joshua taking place in Saudi Arabia?

 

I have various reservations about the fight going to SA, but I'll keep this comment focused on the contract side of things.

 

There’s little doubt that Ruiz is contractually boundto take the rematch and that the contract grants team Joshua the authority todetermine the location. In that regard Ruiz seems to have very little leverageto either force a change of location or extract more monetary compensation inorder to refrain from instigating protracted legal proceedings. In short, itseems that he is sure to lose any such battle.

 

He does seem to have some things on his side though.

 

First there is the matter of the belts. The decisions of thesanctioning bodies are outside of the remit of the contract. A long legaldispute might result in a sanctioning body – the IBF in particular –removingtheir belt from the fight. Given how much significance Hearn and Joshua placedon becoming the undisputed champion, this is a scenario they will certainlywant to avoid. The IBF announcement that the rematch must take place on orbefore December 7th and the subsequent defence before May 31st2020 only helps Ruiz here. It adds the pressure on team Joshua to keep him froma legal challenge; even one he would eventually lose.

 

Second there is the issue of the SA location. Just like itseemed that Ruiz might try and hang his hat on a grievance related to the drugissues surrounding the Whyte fight, with the fight being scheduled for SA hecan try and leverage the safety of the region (or lack thereof) as a factorwhich exempts him from the obligation to take the rematch there. Warren wasquick to point out that the US State Department has issued guidance to UScitizens to avoid travelling; apparently strengthening any case Ruiz would havein a legal dispute.

 

https://talksport.com/sport/boxing/587495/frank-warren-eddie-hearn-andy-ruiz-jr-anthony-joshua-saudi-arabia/

 

How much of this is Ruiz simply posturing to scrape a bitmore compensation from Matchroom and how much of this is a sincere attempt toget the bout location moved is unclear. One thing I find strange is Hearn’s publiclyreiterating that the decision to shift focus from Cardiff to SA was motivated(on both his and Joshua’s part) by a desire to keep Ruiz happy (and avoid difficulties/excusesfrom their side). He has also been clear that he has been in constant contactwith the Ruiz team who has informed about the SA location prior to the announcement.Either he isn’t being entirely transparent that satisfying Ruiz was aconsideration, or he judged the SA proposal was just too attractive, or Ruiz’steam didn’t let on that they would have a real problem with SA (maybe some combination of these is closest to the truth).

 

It is going to be interesting to see how all of this playsout. If Ruiz is really serious about frustrating the SA arrangements then Hearnmay have promoted himself into a corner. If he had announced Cardiff, ratherthan SA, I suspect it would have been easier the shift the fight elsewhere had theneed really arisen. Now, with the amount of media exposure, and controversy,this location has generated, it will be far more difficult, from a promotionalcompany perspective, to be seen to fail to deliver on the promises he has made.If I had to judge which way this is going to go I would say that the bottomline is going to win the day and Ruiz is going to get enough extra money tokeep him happy and proceed without too much trouble to the Dec 7thdate in SA. Hard to tell at this stage though.

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