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Home » Eddie Hearn warns Andy Ruiz Jr: Defend belts or face legal battle

Eddie Hearn warns Andy Ruiz Jr: Defend belts or face legal battle

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  • 2 min read

Eddie Hearn has reacted quickly to the news Andy Ruiz Jr. will not be heading to Saudi Arabia for an already arranged Anthony Joshua rematch.

The Matchroom boss, like all of us, heard the news via an Instagram Story chat as Ruiz revealed his push to stage a rematch in the United States.

“I know everybody’s talking about the fight and all but we got the real news coming soon,” said Ruiz.

“The fight is going to happen soon. I’m trying to give hope, give motivation to all my people.

“Of course. It’s going to be on my terms, our terms. 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.”

Eddie Hearn warns Andy Ruiz Jr

Hearn has now sent a reminder to Ruiz that he’s under contract and risks being stripped of the championships he took from AJ on June 1st.

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

BELTS

On what the consequences of Ruiz non-compliance could be, Hearn added: “He signed a contract with us that he was absolutely over the moon with.

“That gave him the opportunity of a lifetime. He will 100 per cent honour that contract.

“His choice is to have a legal battle that could put him out of boxing for years, or to defend his belts for a lot of money against a guy he has already beaten.

“There isn’t any doubt he will take the fight.

“Any messing around and Ruiz Jr will lose belts, and he won’t want to do that.

“We expect the IBF, WBA and WBO belts to be on the line,” he concluded.