Andy Ruiz Jr. Replaces Jarrell Miller for Anthony Joshua Fight on June 1

Andy Ruiz Jr. has been confirmed as Anthony Joshua's opponent for his United States debut at Madison Square Garden in New York on June 1. 

Jarrell Miller had been scheduled to fight Joshua for his WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO heavyweight belts, but the American failed a drugs test and was denied a license for the fight.

Per Liam Prenderville of the Mirror, Joshua, 29, did not halt his fight preparations after Miller pulled out, and he said he welcomes the challenge posed by Ruiz:

"Ruiz is a different kind of challenge but one I embrace. We have worked in the boxing gym week on week and whomever is put in front of me at Madison Square Garden on June 1 will be dispatched in style. The rent will be collected."

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Joshua's last fight was his seventh-round knockout of Russia's Alexander Povetkin last September, which took his professional record to 22-0 (21 KOs). 

Ruiz, meanwhile, was last in action on April 20, when he beat Germany's Alexander Dimitrenko in his native California.

The 29-year-old has only lost once in his career, by majority decision to New Zealand's Joseph Parker in 2016 when the WBO heavyweight title was on the line. 

Ruiz will go into the fight against Joshua as a big underdog, but the Englishman's promoter, Eddie Hearn, warned against any complacency:

ESPN's Dan Rafael believes it is the best fight that could have been made in the circumstances:

Joshua's rise through the heavyweight ranks to becoming a unified champion has been largely serene so far, with his biggest win to date arguably coming against Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley Stadium in 2017. 

All 22 of his previous victories have come in front of a home crowd in the UK, though.

A fight in the U.S. is a major step for Joshua to take, and Ruiz will be desperate to be the first man to beat him in a professional bout.