Andy Ruiz Jr. vs. Anthony Joshua 2 preview and best bets

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Andy Ruiz Jr. (33-1, 22 KOs) and Anthony Joshua (22-1, 21 KOs) meet Saturday night for the WBA (Super), WBO, and IBF heavyweight titles.

Yes, all those titles exist, and yet somehow, neither Tyson Fury nor Deontay Wilder own any of them. Welcome to heavyweight boxing in 2019.

Ruiz shocked the world by finishing Joshua back in June to cash in as a massive 14-1 underdog. The champion is an underdog again in the rematch, although much smaller than +1400.

Here's a betting breakdown for Saturday's heavyweight title fight:

Odds

Oddsmakers didn't give Ruiz much of a shot in the first fight, and while he's getting more respect this time around, the current champion is a +260 underdog on Saturday. Bettors who think Joshua will recapture the titles must lay -200, which are modest odds in the fight game. Bottom line: Sportsbooks don't want to take another beating if Ruiz proves the first fight wasn't a fluke.

If Ruiz wins again, oddsmakers expect it to come through another stoppage. Ruiz is +270 to win by KO/TKO and +1200 to take the fight by decision. Meanwhile, Joshua is -105 to win the fight by stoppage and +300 to earn a decision. Odds that the clash ends in a draw are +3300, and the length of the bout is 7.5 rounds with the over juiced at -134.

Matchup

Is Ruiz a one-hit wonder? Is Joshua overrated? We'll know a lot more after Saturday's rematch.

A popular theory is that Joshua was thinking of bigger payday fights against Wilder and Fury during the first matchup, and then he overlooked Ruiz. There are rumblings that Joshua was going through a poor training camp and injured himself in a sparring session just before the fight. While that may or may not be true, he didn't really look like himself. Maybe Joshua wasn't focused, or perhaps Ruiz deserves more credit, as he was winning on two of the three scorecards at the time of the stoppage.

Keep in mind on Saturday that Joshua did get to Ruiz early in the first fight, almost knocking him out in the third round. Ruiz showed a lot of heart, rising after an uppercut and knocking Joshua down four times before the fight was eventually stopped.

Ruiz was leading 57-56 on two scorecards and Joshua led 57-56 on the other. Those are typical nonsensical boxing scorecards though. Ruiz dominated much of the fight, beginning in the third round.

Before the Ruiz loss, Joshua was laying waste to his opponents, winning 21 of 22 bouts by stoppage. Some of his victims were quality fighters too, including Wladimir Klitschko, Alexander Povetkin, and Charles Martin.

Ruiz doesn't possess the same power as Joshua, winning 11 of 34 fights by decision. However, Ruiz packs enough power to put Joshua on his back multiple times, as we saw in the first matchup. Expect Joshua to come out hot in this fight and try to end Ruiz early to prove the champion was lucky before.

Best Bets

Joshua -200

Over 7.5 rounds (-134)

This is a tough fight to call because the first matchup was so wild. Ruiz's win was partly a result of him being underrated, and something was off with Joshua.

I expect the ex-champion to rebound and even the score with Ruiz. Joshua has taken shots from hard punchers like Klitschko, but he couldn't handle Ruiz's power in the first meeting for some reason. Look for Joshua's movement and defense to be much better Saturday night.

I'm taking Joshua to win at -200, which are reasonable odds. This time there's value with Joshua after his disappointing outing in June. I also like the over on 7.5 rounds. Ruiz has never been knocked out, and he showed off his chin by getting up from a big uppercut in the first fight. He should last into the deeper rounds before Joshua finally takes him out. I'll call for Joshua to stop him in Round 9.

Thomas Casale is theScore's supervising editor of sports betting. He's been following the sports betting industry for almost 30 years. A devoted fan of the wishbone offense, Thomas bets on all sports but specializes in college football, NFL, and college basketball. Find him on Twitter @TheTomCasale.