Fury Fears Ruiz Jr may Ruin All-British Heavyweight Fight with Joshua 

Anthony Joshua has his “blinkers on” despite Tyson Fury’s latest jibe as he prepares for his rematch with Andy Ruiz Jr, promoter Eddie Hearn has said.

Fury claimed “if he gets knocked out again there’s no chance” of an all-British battle against long-time rival Joshua, which Hearn admits “will always be a big fight”.

“This is the first time that we have ever gone into a fight where we couldn’t care less about Tyson Fury or Deontay Wilder,” Hearn told Sky Sports. “The only thing that matters is beating Ruiz Jr.

“Once you do that, everything will take care of itself because you’re the guvnor of the division. “That’s why it’s such a monstrous fight.

“Can he come back from defeat? Yes of course he can. But it is so important to bounce back and beat Ruiz Jr, and go down in history. He is so focused, and so is Ruiz Jr.

“Joshua has become a real student of the game in this camp, and he needs to do that to beat Ruiz Jr who is going to be confident, fast, powerful.

“This will be a historic moment for the heavyweight division.

“Those other guys can say what they want because, right now, we have our blinkers on.”

Joshua aims to avenge defeat to Ruiz Jr and claim back the IBF, WBA and WBO titles on December 7, in Saudi Arabia.

Fury, who appears at WWE Crown Jewel on Thursday night against Braun Strowman but plans to return to the boxing ring to rematch Deontay Wilder in early-2020, dismissed hopes that he might face Joshua eventually.

“Well, if he gets knocked out again there’s no chance, is there, that’s for sure,” Fury told Sky Sports.

“If we were to fight, if he did win this fight, then all my fights have to be in America now, so unless they’re willing to travel to the US, which after his last visit I don’t think he’ll be too happy on going, then it’s not happening any time soon, that’s for sure.

“Not very near future no, but never say never.”