Cristiano Ronaldo surprisingly defended Andy Ruiz Jr for his physique when he fought Anthony Joshua.
The famously shredded footballing superstar has spent his entire career working to be in prime condition, but is adamant that this is not the most important thing when it comes to winning in top level sport.
While speaking to IBF middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin for the DAZN documentary ‘Parallel Worlds’ at the start of this year, Ronaldo said: “The fight, Ruiz against Joshua – Joshua is top, but the other one is good.
“I talked with my friends and they said, ‘Ah, his body.’
“I said, ‘Listen, the body doesn’t matter. It’s preparation.'”
Ronaldo was proved correct when Ruiz defeated AJ first time around, but it was Joshua who emerged victorious in their rematch as the Mexican-American gained even more weight and prepared woefully.
Ronaldo and Joshua met in person at the start of 2019 and CR7 went on to reveal exactly what they said to one another about their futures in top level sport.
He explained: “We had the opportunity to speak last year in Dubai, I was with Joshua and we had conversation.
“33 years old is that age where you start to feel down.
“I don’t wanna be in the sport, in football, where people say, ‘Cristiano was an unbelievable player and now he’s slow.’
“I don’t want that.
“You can take care a lot of your body, the body’s not a problem I don’t think.
“It’s here [points to his head], your motivation, experience. I think this is the most tough.”
