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Anthony Joshua prepared to travel back to New York for Andy Ruiz Jr rematch

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Former unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua 22-1 (21) is prepared to travel back to Madison Square Garden in New York in his quest to regain his titles from conqueror Andy Ruiz Jr 33-1 (22), according to promoter Eddie Hearn.

Joshua, who was knocked down four times by Ruiz Jr en route to a TKO7 loss last weekend, has activated his immediate rematch clause with the Mexican-American. Ruiz Jr has said he prefers the rematch to take place in Mexico or America but would be willing to fight Joshua in the UK – for USD$50 million, or 10 times more than he made for the first fight.

Hearn said he had had preliminary discussion with Joshua about the rematch, with the former champion revealing he was willing to travel back to the venue where it all went wrong for him.

“Ruiz got the opportunity, he wasn’t mandatory,” Hearn told Fight Hub TV.

“We picked Andy Ruiz. What I will say is if Ruiz beats Joshua again, Ruiz is golden. Now you’re talking about superstardom.

“He’s changed his life. We’ll advise in the next two weeks where the rematch will be. For me, we’ll take it to the UK.

“AJ is the sick kind of guy, where he said to me a few days ago, ‘Maybe we should do it in the Garden again. That’s where it went wrong, so maybe that’s where I should put it right’.

“That’s an incredible attitude. We don’t know if boxing in America is a disadvantage to him, boxing in the UK is an advantage to him.

“He said: ‘Yeah, but I’m the challenger now, should we bring it back to America?’ I told him he was too nice. We got some decisions to make and they’ll come soon.”

Despite Ruiz Jr holding the IBF, WBA and WBO world championships, Hearn claims Team Joshua have the final say on where the rematch will be staged.