By Kenneth Friedman: Andy Ruiz Jr. posted on social media workout video of him starting his training for his next fight following his loss to Anthony Joshua last December. Ruiz’s weight doesn’t look that bad. In looking at the video and photos of Ruiz, he appears to be slimmer than the 283 lbs he weighed for his loss to Joshua on December 7th in Saudi Arabia.
Ruiz says he’s “Going back to the basics” in training for his next fight, and you have to believe. He looks good, and he appears to have the eye of the tiger now. It’s obviously a little late for Ruiz to be getting mentally focused, but he’s still young and talented.
The former IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Ruiz Jr. (33-2, 22 KOs) reportedly has been given a seven-figure offer to face Dillian Whyte in March or April by Matchroom Boxing, and that could be too tempting to turn down.
Andy Ruiz Jr. can make millions fighting Whyte
Making millions for a fight against Whyte, 31, would be a great second chance opportunity for Ruiz to make big dough. Not only the payday that Ruiz would get fighting Whyte, but the guaranteed title shot that would come after.
A win for Ruiz Jr. against Whyte (27-1, 18 KOs) would put him right back into a world title fight against the winner of the February 22 rematch between WBC champion Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury. An in shape Ruiz is all wrong for Whyte, given that he has the superior hand speed, combination punching, and overall ability. Whyte lacks the mobility to try and run from Ruiz the way that Joshua and Joseph Parker did in his only 2 career defeats.
Ruiz blew his chance of keeping his three world titles by coming in too heavy for his rematch with Joshua last December. But despite being arguably 20 lbs over his ideal weight, Ruiz fought well when Joshua stopped moving. AJ won by the scores 118-110, 119-109, 118-110.
It was one of those situations where Joshua lost popularity with the negative way he fought rather than gaining it in his win over Ruiz. Andy did a much better job of winning over boxing fans with his 7th round knockout loss to Joshua last June at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Ruiz Jr. being written off by fans
With no pressure on him now, Ruiz Jr. can come back with no expectations from fans, and surprise people the way he did last June. Joshua was able to come back from his loss by changing his fighting style, and it’s possible Ruiz can do the same.
In Ruiz’s case, he doesn’t need to tinker with his fighting style the way Joshua did. He just needs to lose weight, and work on cutting off the ring on his opponents. Luckily for Ruiz, there aren’t too many heavyweights in the division that can move like Joshua did last December.
Most heavyweights won’t even try to do what Joshua did, because it’s too exhausting. It goes without saying that everyone that Ruiz fights from this point on will be attempting to move, and tie him up to follow the Joshua blueprint.
Other great options for Ruiz’s next fight:
- Alexander Povetkin
- Luis Ortiz
- Michael Hunter
- Joseph Parker
Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn would prefer that Ruiz fight one of his own fighters obviously, but he has other options available to him besides Whyte. Hearn wants to use Ruiz as a way of increasing the popularity of Whyte. If Hearn didn’t believe that Whyte could beat Ruiz, he wouldn’t be trying to lure him with a 7-figure offer.
Who wants to play one on one? Retweet and lmk if you got a better jumper than me 🏆😀🏀 pic.twitter.com/siJSFssdH1
— AndyRuizjr (@Andy_destroyer1) January 13, 2020