NEW YORK _ In heavyweight boxing, the story almost always is about the title fight that isn't taking place rather than the one that is, and that will be the case when unified champion Anthony Joshua of Great Britain makes his U.S. debut against Andy Ruiz Jr. Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.
California native Ruiz (32-1, 21 KOs) stepped in as a replacement for Brooklyn's Jarrell Miller, who failed three drug tests to blow his chance against Joshua (22-0, 21 KOs), who holds the WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight titles. Of course, the elephant in the room is WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder, who holds the one major belt Joshua needs to become undisputed champion.
Two weeks ago, Wilder scored a dramatic first-round KO over Dominic Breazeale at Barclays Center, but negotiations between his camp and Joshua's have gone in circles for well over a year without discernible progress.
