Spirits were high at the pre-fight gala dinner on Thursday evening and Ruiz was spotted giving his opponent’s mother a friendly handshake.

Ruiz was spotted giving Joshua’s mother a friendly handshake as the pair smiled and exchanged pleasantries after meal at the Al Faisaliah Hotel.

Andy Ruiz Jr may have four world title belts, but he’s still playing the role of humble challenger ahead of his heavyweight rematch with Anthony Joshua.

Speaking ahead of the big fight, Joshua revealed how he plans to approach Ruiz this time around.

“For me, take centre. If I’m six inches in front of Ruiz, all takes for a man to miss a punch is six inches,’

“So sometimes you haven’t even got to be running around the ring.

“I asked him upstairs, I said: “How do I beat you, then?” He says: “Maybe, you should move around a little.

“Boxing is a sweet science of the sport. I’m 6ft 6in, so it would be wrong of me to sit in front of Ruiz and go toe-to-toe hooking.

“I’ve got to box to my attributes which is range and movement. My style is not what a scared boxer would do, I think it’s what a smart fighter would do.” he told reporters.