Andy Ruiz Jr. has vowed to enter his rematch with Anthony Joshua in Diriyah, Saudia Arabia on Dec. 7 in better shape.
Perhaps he stashed the Snickers away somewhere, because the unified world heavyweight champion already seems to look the part. Over the weekend, Ruiz posted an image of himself to his Instagram account, with his face and body looking visibly slimmer than in his previous bout with Joshua. (Flip to second shot).
During the New York City stop of the Ruiz-Joshua promo tour last month, Ruiz told Sporting News he has set a targeted weight of 255-57 pounds for the highly anticipated rematch. That's down from the 267 pounds Ruiz weighed when he shocked the world with a seventh-round TKO of Joshua on June 1.
"That's the goal right now to be at 255, 257," Ruiz told SN. "I want to get a little bit down where I'm comfortable. At that weight, when I fought at 267, I was a little heavier but I did that on purpose because I wanted to be strong. I wanted to be able to carry (Joshua's) weight. But we're going to be doing the same thing. We're going to be stronger, we're going to be faster, we're going to be leaner and of course we're going to throw all the combinations."
Joshua, too, already appears slimmer in perhaps an attempt to combat Ruiz's vaunted quick-hand speed. In less than two months' time, we'll see who hits the ring as the faster, more powerful fighter.