By Keith Idec

NEW YORK – Anthony Joshua paused when he was asked Thursday if he considers Andy Ruiz Jr. a tougher opponent than Jarrell Miller might’ve been.

Joshua considers Ruiz a better boxer than Miller. Had the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association not caught Miller cheating, however, Joshua knows their fight would’ve been difficult for him Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.

“That’s a very good question,” Joshua said during a press conference at The Beacon Theater. “That’s a question that you might have to ask [promoter] Eddie [Hearn]. Maybe he was trying to get me a little easy fight with Miller. You know, but that boy wasn’t gonna make it easy with all them drugs in his body, you know? That would’ve been a proper scrap.

“When I look back, I thought, ‘You know, the guy’s a big guy and all that. Fine.’ I don’t think he’s a good boxer. But it would’ve been a proper scrap with all them PEDs in his system. But it is what it is. I would’ve had to break him down anyway.”

Hearn later stated that the 6-feet-2, 260-pound Ruiz (32-1, 21 KOs) is a more formidable opponent than the 6-feet-4, 315-pound Miller (23-0-1, 20 KOs) would’ve been for the IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion.

The opening odds were much closer on the Joshua-Miller match than those on Joshua-Ruiz. England’s Joshua (22-0, 21 KOs) is consistently listed as at least a 25-1 favorite over Ruiz, who has lost only a majority decision to former WBO champ Joseph Parker (25-2, 19 KOs).

Ruiz replaced Miller on five full weeks’ notice once Brooklyn’s Miller tested positive for three prohibited PEDs – Endurobol, EPO and HGH.

“I do think he’s a tougher fight than Miller,” Hearn said. “The Miller fight was made for a couple of reasons. One, it was a good fight. Two, he does work with DAZN. And three, there was that genuine beef between them. And that was evident in the buildup. But I do believe this is a tougher fight than Jarrell Miller.”

The 6-feet-6, 245-pound Joshua seemingly agreed with Hearn’s assessment, minus Miller’s PED use.

“Miller, I don’t think he can box as well as Ruiz, in my opinion,” Joshua said. “But as I said, with everything that was inside of him, it would’ve made it a good, good fight.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.