Boxing trainer Tony Sims has warned Anthony Joshua that he should not have taken up his rematch with Andy Ruiz Jr in the hopes of recapturing the heavyweight titles.
Ruiz, 29, stunned the boxing world in June when he dropped the 29-year-old 'AJ' four times in Madison Square Garden on route to securing a sensational TKO victory.
But Sims, who was the Brit superstar's first professional trainer before Rob McCracken became his head coach in 2016, believes that 'AJ' should not have invoked his rematch clause so soon.
"AJ's got to be really smart in this fight, you can't be standing in the trenches with Ruiz, he's got to be smart in this fight, box behind the jab, get his feet moving and all long-range punching," he told Seconds Out.
"He's got to get his defence together as well, he's got to be able to slip and ride them shots, there's a lot of work for him to do before he gets in with Ruiz."
According to Sims, the former unified champ should have taken inspiration from Tyson Fury's comeback route.
The 'Gypsy King,' 31, returned to boxing in 2018 after battling mental health and fought against Sefer Seferi and Francesco Pianeta before he challenged Deontay Wilder.
Sims claims that 'AJ,' who suffered his first professional loss to Ruiz, should have eyed up one or two fights before he took up the rematch.
"I would've rather seen him have a fight or two in the interim and worked on what he needs to do with Ruiz, get similar sort of opponents in," he explained.
"Because if you look at what Tyson Fury's done, he jumped into that fight with [Deontay] Wilder when he weren't 100 per cent ready for that fight.
"But since then, he's [Fury] getting himself together, he's training in the gym, he's fighting, he's going to have three fights then probably fight Wilder again, which he'll be in a much better situation mentally and physically.
"He would've learnt even more by the time the three fights come round and you've got to really fancy him to beat Wilder next time.
"So I would've liked to seen AJ do that, get a couple of fights in the interim."
Joshua will take on Ruiz on 7th December in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia.
And Ruiz has already said that he is looking "forward to ending [Joshua's] career in the desert."
Will 'AJ' win the rematch?
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