Mexican fighter Ruiz Jr shocked Joshua to win the IBF, WBA and WBO world titles in June and he is confident of another victory in Saudi Arabia on 7 December.
“I don’t want it to be 15 minutes of fame,” said Ruiz Jr. “I want it to last, to be a generation, to be champion for more years.
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“I am going to make history and win in the same fashion and the same way I did on 1 June and prove everybody wrong.”
2. ‘Bored’ Costa Rica boss quits
Gustavo Matosas, head coach of the Costa Rica national team, has stepped down from the role because it was “boring” compared to club football. He said: “It’s tough not having players in the day-to-day to train them. I only have the players for a week every two months and it’s killing me.
“I didn’t know it was so hard. I thought I would be able to somehow endure it. I didn’t know being a national team manager was so boring.
“I don’t regret it and I don’t leave frustrated because I gave my best. I won’t manage a national team again. I can’t only have the players every two months. It’s not for me.”
3. Patchell to start for Wales
Wales head coach Warren Gatland has selected Scarlets fly-half Rhys Patchell in the team to face Ireland on Saturday in the Rugby World Cup warm-up in Dublin. Gatland has made a full 15 changes to the line-up that was beaten 22-17 by Ireland last week.
Wales starting XV
15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Rhys Patchell, 9 Tomos Williams; 1 Wyn Jones, 2 Elliot Dee, 3 Tomas Francis, 4 Jake Ball, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (captain), Aaron Wainwright, 7 Justin Tipuric, 8 Ross Moriarty
Replacements: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Adam Beard, 20 Josh Navidi, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Dan Biggar, 23 Liam Williams
4. EPL stars dominate World11 shortlist
The Fifa Fifpro Men’s World11 55-man nominee list features 21 Premier League players. It’s the first time in ten years that the Premier League has the largest number of nominations. Seven Liverpool players are included.
5. NFL centenary season starts
The NFL’s 100th season kicks off at 1.20am tomorrow morning when the Chicago Bears host the Green Bay Packers. The clash at Soldier Field is live on Sky Sports Action and Main Event.
6. Serena: Elina is a fighter
Serena Williams has her sights set on a record-equalling 24th grand slam title but if she is to reach the US Open final she must first get past Elina Svitolina.
Williams praised her semi-final opponent and said: “Elina is obviously a fighter, she gets a lot of balls back. She doesn’t make a lot of mistakes. She’s one of those players that does everything really well so I have to do everything well, too.”
Tonight’s Williams vs. Svitolina semi-final starts at midnight (UK time).
7. Rafa storms into semi-finals
In the US Open men’s singles Rafael Nadal is through to the semi-finals after a 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 victory over Diego Schwartzman.
Spaniard Nadal will face Italy’s Marco Berrettini tomorrow in New York while Grigor Dimitrov plays Daniil Medvedev.
On Berrettini, Nadal said: “He is hitting huge. Big, big serves. Big forehands. Moving well and is super confident. He is a player who is making big steps forward, so it will be another big challenge.”
8. United braced for Pogba bid
Manchester United are ready to make Paul Pogba a lucrative new contract offer but they are “bracing themselves” for a concerted effort from Real Madrid to lure the French World Cup winner to the Bernabeu next June.
He will then have two years to run on his five-year deal, which includes the option of a further 12 months, and United will have to decide whether to endure more endless transfer speculation or look to cash in on their prize asset.
Although he admits it was hard seeing team-mate Charles Leclerc perform so well in Belgium Sebastian Vettel hopes that the roles are reversed at this weekend’s Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix, Ferrari’s home race. “It is very important that we all work together, especially for the development of the car,” said Vettel. “Charles was stronger at Spa and I don’t like that obviously, but I hope the situation is reversed at Monza. He is very fast and there’s always something to learn.”
Rain may have hit the opening day of the fourth Ashes Test but the conditions did not stop Australia star Steve Smith from frustrating the England bowling attack. At lunch on day two Smith was unbeaten on 101 and Australia were on 245-5 from 69 overs.
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