Ruiz Jr-Joshua 2: Dillian Whyte to face Mariusz Wach on undercard

Dillian Whyte is set to fight Polish heavyweight Mariusz Wach on the undercard of Anthony Joshua’s rematch with Andy Ruiz Jr in Saudi Arabia.

On December 7, Joshua will have a shot at redemption as he squares off with Ruiz Jr for the second time. In arguably the biggest fight of the year, the rematch will take place in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia. A newly-constructed 15,000 seater stadium has been built for the event.

But on the undercard will be Joshua’s former foe Dillian Whyte (26-1), who announced on Wednesday he will return to the ring to face previous world title challenger, Mariuz Wach (35-5).

With Whyte one of five heavyweight fights on the bill, the Brixton man is looking forward to being part of an historic night in Saudi Arabia:

“I’m delighted to be fighting in Saudi Arabia against Mariusz Wach. He’s probably got one of the best chins in the heavyweight division.

“I have been training and working hard to fight so it’s great to get a date and it’s very exciting for me to be fighting somewhere different like Saudi Arabia. I want to fight in different places and different settings and this card has the biggest heavyweight fight on it that we have seen in years.

“I’m just going to keep chasing the world titles, so if I keep winning then I hope to land that world title shot in 2020, that’s the plan for December 7.”

The 31-year-old’s last outing came in July, where he was forced to climb off the canvas to secure a points victory over Colombian Oscar Rivas.

Just 10 days after the Rivas fight, Whyte’s career was plunged into crisis after being provisionally suspended by the WBC for an alleged failed drugs test.

While the case continues and the situation remains uncertain, there is no ban on the ‘Body Snatcher’ fighting after being cleared by the British Boxing Board of Control.

Card in full:

Andy Ruiz Jr vs Anthony Joshua

IBF, WBA, WBO & IBO World Heavyweight Championships

Alexander Povetkin vs Michael Hunter

WBA World Heavyweight Championship Eliminator

Dillian Whyte vs Mariusz Wach

Heavyweight contest

Filip Hrgovic vs Eric Molina

WBC International Heavyweight Championship

Mahammadrasul Majidov vs Tom Little 

Heavyweight contest

Diego Pacheco vs TBA

Super-middleweight contest

Hopey Price vs TBA

Super-bantamweight contest