Restoration job

ATMOSPHERE

TIMING was essential to what remains the highest point of Andy Ruiz’s career, when he stunned Anthony Joshua in 2019, and it might just transpire that it proves equally influential ahead of what could be the next.

By convincingly defeating Cuba’s over 12 rounds at the Staples Center (now known as Arena) in Los Angeles, he recorded not only one of his finest victories, but one that is expected to lead to a fight with Deontay Wilder if Wilder beats Robert Helenius next month. Beat Wilder – and a victory over Helenius would far from prove Wilder has recovered from his damaging trilogy with Tyson Fury – and he might just secure a further fight with Joshua, or even a