Andy Ruiz Jr is still ‘haunted’ by the most high-profile loss of his career.

The Mexican-American was a unified world heavyweight champion back in June 2019, but only for a few short months.

He picked up the belts by becoming the first man to beat and stop Anthony Joshua in a fight at Madison Square Garden that was full of drama and saw Ruiz floored before he knocked Joshua down several times.

The rematch in December of that year saw him lose a 12-round shut out and, since then, he has fought only twice – points wins over Chris Arreola and Luis Ortiz.

Speaking to IFL TV, Ruiz expressed his desire for a third fight with Joshua, who is instead attempting to become a three-time world champion when he takes on Daniel Dubois later this summer.

“I just want to get back in the ring. All that’s gunna fall into place man. He’s talking about ‘I’m going to fight a few more times and then retire’. But I don’t want him to retire without fighting me.”

He was asked how he saw the trilogy contest going if it is to be made.

“It’s going to be really explosive, man. Because he [beat] me when I wasn’t prepared. He won’t me when I wasn’t training.

He isn’t fighting really tough fighters. he’s knocking everybody out, he’s supposed to, I feel all the guys he fights are scared. Once you go in a big fight like that you gotta be fearless, you can’t be scared, you have to believe in yourself.”