The re-match between Anthony Joshua and the new IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight world champion Andy Ruiz, Junior has been confirmed for later this year.
The Mexican Ruiz Jr stunned the boxing world with a seventh-round stoppage of Joshua in the early hours of Sunday morning at New York's Madison Square Garden.
In a tweet this evening, boxing promoter Eddie Hearn confirmed that the much-anticipated bout will be fixed for either November or December of this year.
He wrote, "After meetings with AJ, Rob Mc and the management team in NY, we have today triggered the contracted rematch clause with Andy Ruiz Jnr. The fight will take place in Nov/Dec at a venue to be confirmed shortly."
After meetings with AJ, Rob Mc and the management team in NY, we have today triggered the contracted rematch clause with Andy Ruiz Jnr. The fight will take place in Nov/Dec at a venue to be confirmed shortly.
— Eddie Hearn (@EddieHearn) June 4, 2019
Joshua had already planned to fight again anyway in November if he had been victorious in the weekend's bout, so Hearn's comments this evening confirm the London fighter's plans will not change.
Joshua had been previously undefeated in his 22 professional bouts, with an eagerly-anticipated fight against one of Deontay Wilder or Tyson Fury set to have been the likely next port of call.
Wilder, who holds the WBC belt, said after the fight that Joshua "wasn't a true champion. His whole career [has] consisted of lies, contradictions, and gifts."
It was Joshua's first fight outside of the UK, while the win for Ruiz, Jr makes him the first ever Mexican heavyweight champion of the world.
The 'Destroyer' had only confirmed his participation in the fight in April after Jarell Miller failed a drugs test. His only previous title fight had ended in defeat to New Zealand's Joshua Parker.
The Joshua v Ruiz, Jr fight took place on the same card as Katie Taylor's controversial win over the Belgian Delfine Persoon.
Taylor unified the lightweight divisional belts with her points decision win in New York, adding the WBC title and the Ring Magazine belt to her WBA, WBO, and IBF belts.
