Boxing: Joshua warned he is making huge mistake with Ruiz rematch

Ruiz stunned the boxing world by beating Joshua [Reuters]

Anthony Joshua has been warned he is making a big mistake by agreeing to an immediate rematch with Andy Ruiz Junior.

Joshua has told promoter Eddie Hearn to activate the rematch clause in the original fight contract in the wake of his shock loss to Ruiz.

Ruiz’s promoter Manny Robles claims the former unified world heavyweight champ is playing into their hands by going straight for a second fight.

The experienced cornerman says he would be better having a couple of tune-up fights to rebuild his confidence because of his shattering six-round loss when Ruiz floored him four times at Madison Square Garden.

“In my opinion, if it’s the direct rematch, it’s better for us,” said Robles. “Andy already did two fights in a row. It was 15 weeks of work.

“If I were Joshua’s coach, I would ask him to take a break, wait a year, choose to fight with someone else and do one or two fights before fighting with Ruiz.”

Joshua, 29, does not want to wait and feels he needs to win back his WBA Super, IBF and WBO titles to get his career back on track.

Joshua, who suffered his first loss in eight years to Ruiz, still hopes to land a massive showdown with either WBC king Deontay Wilder or Tyson Fury and knows he needs to those belts to make that happen.

Hearn claims the rematch could happen in November wherever it makes the most money.

Ruiz celebrates his victory [Reuters]

Ruiz wants to fight in Mexico after becoming the first world heavyweight champion from that boxing-mad country.

The most likely venue in the UK is under the closed roof of Cardiff’s Principality Stadium because of the time of year, although the fans would much prefer Wembley.

Las Vegas could trump them all in terms of money on offer if MGM are prepared to bankroll the rematch.

Robles claims Ruiz is happy to face Joshua anywhere because he is so confident he will beat him again.

“From my understanding, on the Andy Ruiz team, they’re going to try to suggest to make the fight in Vegas,” he said.

“What better place than to bring it to the boxing capital of the world, right?

“We just got back from Mexico and now they’re talking about possibly bringing it to Mexico, New York or even London.

“If you ask Andy, he would love to fight in Mexico, but it’s up to the promoters and managers and so forth to come to an agreement as to where.

“If the money’s right, he doesn’t have an issue fighting anywhere.”