5 Live Boxing with Steve Bunce - Joshua v Ruiz: Final fight breakdown

Episode Date: May 31, 2019

Anthony Joshua and Andy Ruiz jr weigh in ahead of the heavyweight world title fight at Madison Square Garden. Mike and Steve analyse how they looked on the scales, and break down how they see the fight going. Paulie Malignaggi also pops by to give his prediction.

BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts. Five Live Boxing. And welcome back to Madison Square Garden, where the way in has just taken place ahead of the big heavyweight showdown tomorrow evening, Sunday morning UK time between Anthony Joshua, defending his three versions of the world heavyweight title against the Mexican-American, Andy Ruiz Jr.

Just to repeat the numbers as they came off the scales, Andy Ruiz Jr., 19 stone 2 pounds, followed on to the scales by the champion Anthony Joshua, 17 stone 9 pounds. We were saying earlier how there's been a parade of champions here so far today. Some of them working for television, some of them are here just because they want to see the big fight. A great friend of five-life boxing, Pauli Malanaji, former two-weight world champion. Pauli, how are you breaking this fight down as an event but also as a contest once the bell's underway? You know, I really believe Ruiz was a good replacement.

He had just come off of Dimitrenko victory when he took this fight, so he was still in shape. I look at the heavyweight division, like there's an upper three, a second tier, and then the bottom four. I look at it at Fury Wilder Joshua, and then I look at it as Dillion White, Louis Ortiz, Kubraal-Pulov. And then after that, you have your Jarrell Miller's, you have your Andy Ruiz and guys like that. So I don't think the replacement is of a lesser level than the original opponent here. Plus he was in shape coming off of the Mitrenko win. So I look at this fight. It's a good fight.

I still expect Joshua to win it, but I expect Ruiz not only to give it his all, but for his speed, if he's able to get inside without taking too much damage, for his speed that maybe cause some issues. It will depend, though, because getting inside, you have to get, as a shorter man, you have to deal with that crazy uppercut that Anthony Joshua possesses. And the only problem with throwing an uppercut, Paul, as you know, is that Ruiz's best shot

is that looping left hook, and Joshua, to throw the uppercut, could leave himself exposed. So, bizarrely, it's the punch that causes Ruiz the most damage against the punch that could cause Joshua the most damage. That's a great point, Buncie, and that's where it's going to come down

and timing on both of them. Who's going to time their shot better? Is Ruiz going to time his left hook better? Or is Joshua going to time his upper cup better? Because, yes, you may have a great punch, but it's also choosing when to throw it and what not to throw it, leaving your hands home or throwing it, or then, of course, the timing and the distance of it.

So it'll be interesting. As somebody who knows this city so well, boxing in this city so well, how is this going down, how is it playing out? We've heard about the war cup culture that's not so prevalent in the UK. But by the time we get to fight night tomorrow night, how much interest in this will there be?

There will be. There will be. Right now the main interest is from the boxing pants. There's a curiosity about Joshua from the boxing fans, but Joshua's personality is so marketable and his finding ability, so marketable that once he gets his first one out of the way, I think the curiosity will start to expand

to that crossover market and crossover media. He's known already. He's got sponsorships with companies like beats and whatnot, you know? So he's known. It's just a matter of having him fight consistently on these shores. I think he's a marketing marvel, and I think the U.S. will love him. Paulian, and how much has it hurt the promotion?

I hate to bring up Gerald Big Baby Miller, especially on account of the fact that he failed not one, not two, but three very, very serious drug test. But how much, I hate to say the word bigger because it suggests that this isn't that big? But how much different would it be if Jarrell Miller would have been up there, if he's foul mouth, of his pushing antics, with his boys around and that type of getting Joshua's head and hair? It would have made for a bigger promotion, probably, but at the same time, people would be complaining about the negativity as well. You know, you take the good with the bad. As far as a fighting ability, I am telling you, I'm not just.

selling this fight. It's far as fighting ability. Jarrell Miller and Ruiz are pretty much in the same level. I picked Joshua to beat both of them, but they are quality, and it doesn't mean they wouldn't have, they would, Jarrell wouldn't have made a good fight, and it doesn't mean Andy won't make for a good fight. We'll find out tomorrow night, because Joshua seems ready, as he always is. Great stuff, great to talk to you, Paulie, looking so well, see you at ringside tomorrow night. Thanks a lot. Thanks Pauli, Malanaji, former two-weight world champion, one of those many ex-champions in attendance here for the big fight tomorrow night, live on BBC 5 live in the early hours of Saturday morning UK time

and interesting he was agreeing with you there Steve about how that the punch for Joshua that's been so impressive for him against the lights of Vladimir Colichco didn't finish him but it's set up the finish in that classic at Wembley Stadium the right upper cut to throw it he has to leave himself exposed to Ruiz's left hook which is probably very close to his best shot I think it's undoubtedly his best shot we've seen him throw in the workout ring we've watched him in training we've watched him in training we've

watched him online. Mike, you've trained fighters to GB national amateur titles. Would you have any heavyweight throw a right up a cut in the first round? No. Thank you. So that's what makes it such a dangerous get-out-a-jail punch because you shouldn't even be contemplating throwing it. And of course, when it hits Klitschko with it, it's after one of the most savage, long, drawn-out brawls and Klitsko's teetering. And Joshua takes a big breath, picks his right-foot in about an inch into the canvas Mike and launches the punch for God's sake and you've seen Clitsko's neck he's an inch taller he's like a mountain or they shrink don't they but he's an inch taller so joshua could throw it if Ruiz was caught her and maybe stumbled back on the ropes or stumbling forward but i would not

i would be telling him don't set that uppercut up until the guys hurt and polly was making the point there about how he's marketed himself so well and he's already being endeared by the, and did himself, should I say, to the New York fans. And we were talking to a man who's become a good friend of ours, very helpful to us. Larry Torres, the public relations director here at Madison Square Garden, and he was saying that Joshua could not have been more helpful to the overall promotion of this event during the week here. And the testimony to that is the fact that he's done everything asked and he's done it professionally. And he's got as few people around him, Joshua, but it's not an entourage.

I used an expression with Miller earlier on talking to Pauli that was meant to be disrespectful, his boys. He doesn't have any of that. He's got some guys who, every one of them's got a proper detail. One's a nutritionist, one's this, one's that. So Joshua comes, Joshua packages a nice package. Plus, Mike, when Larry Torres, who, by the way, is an absolute top banana, a lovely fellow, I'm really knowledgeable, when Larry Torres leaves this building late at night, he works late hours,

and he goes out and he hauls a cab, where he walks across to the subway station, what does he see in front of TikTok? Oh, only an 80-foot poster of Hugo Boss with a Hugo Boss poster. I'm going to give them a plug in case they want to fund me and sponsor me. You never know. There's a Hugo Boss poster. It's 80 foot tall with Joshua throwing punches. That must make him feel good.

Anthony Joshua defending his three versions of the world heavyweight title here at Madison Square Garden tomorrow evening against Andy Ruiz Jr. And again, as we noticed at the press conference couldn't fail to, Steve, Ruiz Jr., looking up into the eyes of Anthony Joshua. But as Joshua was saying to me, that he's just going to have to find his range in those early stages because Alexander Paveckin, in his last fight at Wembley Stadium last September, was fighting out of a crouch and just unsettled him in the first round and a half. Big heavyweights don't like fighting small guys, you know.

I'll tell you this now. Lennox Lewis would always rather a guy was the same height or an inchaw so taller, so he's got more shots he can catch him with. You know, you think about it. A small guy is down there, Mike. You've only got to do it in your head. If you close your eyes, if you're listening to this, just bend your knees slightly. tuck your hands up there's lester here big tall guys the michael grant's of this world

uh the the the andrew galottos of this world he feasted on those lennox and he'll do the same thing and that's why i'm going to mention it i'm going to ruin the podcast absolute glorious sanctity by mentioning dionty wilder if he ever to fight dionty wilder those big right hands the joshua froze which often stray upwards a little bit mike if you don't mind me saying so because he sometimes he doesn't turn them perhaps perfectly as you would in a in a textbook. They're made to catch Anthony Joshua, as they might indeed catch the even taller than Wilder Tyson Fury. And Deonti Wilders in town apparently presenting an award tonight at the Boxing Writers Association of America Annual Dinner, although he says he isn't going to be ringside at the

fight on Saturday night here in New York. But his presence, Steve, just reminds us and aggravates fans who want to see the showdown, either the rematch against Tyson Fury or the first fight against Anthony Joshua. And because of that, it's so important that Anthony Joshua does not make any mistakes tomorrow night. Absolutely. It's a bizarre thing, Mike, because Eddie Hearn talked to us at the other day saying it was ridiculous of Deonti Wilder taking this fight, because if he hadn't have taken the fight against Lewis Ortiz, which is a fight he announced on Wednesday, he might have got Joshua. And what if Joshua's in a great fight, Eddie said? He was painting the picture. Do you remember a really lurid, crazy picture? He was going back to Ron Lahl. It was going back to Ernie Shavers to George Forman, all those great heavyways. He painted this picture. What if Joshua gets dropped, gets up, and drops Ruiz three times, and it's a slug fest and it ends in the fifth.

And I was looking at it as if to say, are you crazy? That's the last thing I'd want with my heavyweight, but Eddie was obviously spinning a yarn. But it's absolutely true. That's not the right win for Joshua. The fans might like that, but people will see chinks there. If Joshua gets hurt, wobbled and falls over, really hurt, wobbled and falls over, then we've either massively drastically underestimated Ruiz, or Joshua's got it wrong going into the ring,

and I don't think we're underestimated Ruiz. So we have to make sure here, we have to make sure when that bell sounds in 30-odd hours time, Mike, that the Joshua we see, the Joshua we see walk in. The Joshua we see respond at that first bell is as focused as any Joshua we've ever seen, and he doesn't have his, I know I'll be, Tackham head on, which is what Rob warned us about again,

and I'm going to say it again, That was brilliantly honest and raw for McCrackham. As always it is when he talks to us. Also, the performance director of GB boxing, so much responsible for the successes at the last two Olympic games, indeed the last three Olympic games, the first of them marshalled by Terry Edwards, with a gold medal for James DeGale,

gold again in 2012 for Anthony Joshua for Luke Campbell and for Nicola Adams, and a silver medal for Joe Joyce in the Super Heavyweight Division in 2016. And that has underpinned the success. of the professional ranks in Britain and we've seen many of those stars of the game over the last decade on the stage here today the various reporters alongside us

and the engineers are der-rigging at the moment getting themselves away from here and making their final preparations for the coverage tomorrow night. Huge coverage here and I have to say Steve we'll be here six weeks ago for the Amir Khan against Terrence Crawford fight but this has been raised to another level

in terms of the media frenzy. Yeah I think the key word is intensity That was a perfectly decent build-up and we got some nice stories and we got some lovely access and we did some lovely things. But there wasn't anything like the type of frenzy that's steadily building here.

Whether it's the arrival of Thomas Hauser, the great Ali biographer, or even a man called Wally Matthews who 30 years ago was one of the greatest American boxing riders has been on the baseball beat, disgruntled for 20 years. And whether it's the arrival of just the extra,

the extra person on the stages where we sit, and or the extra boxers that are showing up. But Mike, it's big time. Could I just say, Mike, that we, and I'm getting a bit sick of this, and I'm not sure if it's young Jack, the producers full, or if you've got the timing's wrong, or if the people back in Salford have messed up. But every single place we've been to this week,

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, it's now Friday, we've been evicted. We've been evicted in a sham, in a complete rabble of people dismantling and derrigging, and we're the last ones out of the building. You nearly got into an altercation with the guys. They were like sheriffs when they kicked us out onto the street. We've had a whole week now of being evicted.

I'm getting slightly paranoid about it. It generally happens to me, don't get me wrong. I get followed around Safeway in case people looking like I'm a shoplifter. Don't worry about that. But Mike, what's happened to us this week? Why are people trying to kick us out? I think we've got five minutes or so to survive. And Steve, we should mention the undercard.

Katie Taylor, who's going for four world title. She holds three of them and attempting to win the WBC version of the world. female lightweight title from the Belgian Delphine Pursune. Got a wonderful ovation here. And of course, there is a huge population here, not just of Irish, but Americans who are of Irish descent. And she got a cheer that was second best only

to that of Anthony Joshua here today. And I'm not at all surprise, Mike, and I'm delighted for her. And she's under some immense pressure here. I've been doing lots of bits of Irish radio and bits of Irish TV in the last two or three days. And there's been great demand for catching up with what Katie is doing here in New York.

She's been carrying Irish sport for an awful long time, and I don't think that's me exaggerating. I don't mean boxing, I mean sport. And I take you back to that night in about 2002 or 2003, Mike, an awful long time ago. I think she'd won one world amateur title, and she'd won the European title. And I was over in Dublin for a European title fight.

You know this story. And the Prime Minister was introduced. He got a half-decent ovation. And then Bono was introduced. you too. He got a half decent ovation. And then I'm thinking who's going to come in now? And I recognized that. Suddenly they introduced her. Bono took the mic. He did another introduction. She stood in the ring for five minutes, for five minutes and got a stand in avation. That was 15 years ago. All she's done since then is win and become even more popular. And the Netflix,

got to be plugging some stuff tonight. The Netflix documentary, Katie, is one of the most harrowing and most brilliant boxing documentaries I've seen in an awful long time. It is directed by Ross Whittaker. It is a brilliant piece. And get that if you can. Katie Taylor, attempting to make history tomorrow

by winning four world titles in the lightweight division. Callum Smith will follow her into the ring defending his WBA super middleweight title. Apologies for those of you who might have been expecting to hear that Peter Crouch podcast. Because the way in here overran

we're carrying on on air until 10 o'clock. And Callum Smith has been talking to us, Steve, this week, about how he needs to impress here and has had problems in the past when his opposition has been lower key, and he's dropped to their level. No, Hassam End Damien, Jikam's a terrific fighter, a double Olympian, a world champion, and a man that's lost in some really big fights for world titles, two of those losses, really tight. And he will bring out the best of Callum Smith. And what I really like about Callum Smith, one of the most honest fighters, one of the four fighting Smith brothers from Liverpool,

is that he's put himself under pressure. He said, I can't win on points. I can't just win on points. I've got to do a job. And he is under so much pressure because he wants to put himself in that merry-go-round. He wants to put himself in that fixture list with all of those great fighters

that are currently out there, Mike. And that's why he's put himself under pressure. And I love it when a fighter puts himself under pressure. Mike, I'm a big fan of that. And so to the main event, Steve, and predictions I'm thinking that Andy Ruiz, might get close to the halfway point, might survive until somewhere around the sixth round, because of that early speed that might take time for Joshua to read.

Well, I've changed my opinion only slightly. I started off four or five weeks ago saying Andy Ruiz will give it a good few rounds and he'll go down slugging. And I keep saying Tony Galento, a man that filled one of these halls back in the 30s. And I think, and he will go down slugging. I just think I'm completely in agreement with you, which is generally the way things work. I think it goes longer than two or three rounds unless it gets clipped really early on the gin or maybe on the temple.

I think it goes that same kind of thing. I'd be surprised if it goes past six or seven. My gut feeling is that five or six range. Well, we'll be back here at Madison Square Garden live on Saturday night, New York time, early hours of Sunday morning, UK time. First of all, for Katie Taylor's World Title Contest against the Belgian Delphine Pursune.

She could be making her way to the ring anytime around half-past-one UK time. That's what time. coming on air. Then it's Callum Smith against Hassam and Dam. And the main event we expect sometime after 3.30 a.m. Anthony Joshua against Andy Ruiz Jr. All of it live on BBC Five Live. And don't forget that the post-fight podcast, Five Live Boxing with Costello on Bunce will be available. First thing, Sunday morning. So join us again. Let's get it. Five Live Boxing.