Andy Ruiz Jr called Jarrell Miller after he beat Anthony Joshua to thank the drug cheat for failing doping tests and pulling out
ANDY RUIZ JR called Jarrell Miller after beating Anthony Joshua to thank the drug taker for failing his doping tests.
AJ was supposed to take on Big Baby in New York on Saturday but the American was found to be cheating.
It meant Ruiz, 29, stepped in at the last minute to challenge Joshua for the WBA, WBO and IBF world heavyweight belts.
And he shocked the sport by stopping the reigning champ in the seventh round at Maddison Square Garden.
But Mexican-American Ruiz took time to get in touch with Miller, who must be thinking what might have been.
Appearing on , Ruiz was asked if he had called the cheat.
He said: "I have you know.
"We have a good relationship. He wanted me to win this fight. Thanks to Jarrell."
SLIDING IN
Once Miller was denied a boxing licence for the bout, it became clear that AJ and his promoter Eddie Hearn needed to find a new opponent - and quickly.
And plucky Ruiz tried his luck by sliding into Hearn's DMs on Instagram and begging the Matchroom boss to give him a chance to prove himself.
He wrote: "Give me this fight, I will fight harder than any of the names you've mentioned, I will give you a better fight and I will beat Anthony Joshua."
And it clearly worked.
The new champion told Kimmel: "It’s a blessing to be here and be the first Mexican heavyweight champion of the world.
"At first I did [have doubts about winning]. But with all the training we’ve been doing since my last fight against Alexander Dimitrenko back on April 20, I was already prepared for this fight.
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"I kept telling everyone that I’m gonna win this fight, but everyone kept doubting me. Nobody believed me.
"I had a month and two weeks [to prepare for Joshua fight]. If he wants a rematch, I’ll give it to him.
";I’m willing to go over there or we can do it over here… here in America or Mexico. We’re still going through negotiations."
