Angel Garcia wants to train Andy Ruiz Jr.

By Boxing News - 01/28/2020 - Comments

By Dan Ambrose: Angel Garcia has thrown his name into the hat in volunteering to train Andy Ruiz Jr. to help him get his career back together. Angel, who is the father/coach of former 2 division world champion Danny Garcia, wants Ruiz Jr. (33-2, 22 KOs) to call him so they can talk him training him.

Ruiz Jr. needs a new trainer after leaving his coach Manny Robles following a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision defeat to Anthony Joshua on December 7. Andy is said to be interested in being trained by the well known Freddie Roach and Teddy Atlas, but nothing has been determined yet.

Aside from Danny Garcia, Angel doesn’t have the track record that Atlas and Roach possess in building fighters into world champions. Garcia (36-2, 21 KOs) has won world titles at 140 and 147 during his 13-year professional career. If Angel can bring Ruiz Jr. back to his former glory, it would be a great success story.

Angel Garcia wants Andy Ruiz to call him

“If he wants to call me up, we can sit down and talk,” said Angel Garcia to AB Boxing News in letting Ruiz Jr. know he can call him and they can talk about training. “If the money’s right. My time is worth a lot. I’m not saying I’m very expensive, but it’s got to be right. He’s making good money anyway, so show me a taste,” said Angel.

At this point, Ruiz has nothing to lose in speaking with Angel to see whether the two would be a good fit. Angel is a smart trainer and he would know how to make big improvements in Ruiz’s game, as long as he was willing to follow his instructions.

The biggest question is whether Ruiz Jr., 30, is ready to be coached. He made a mountain of dough from his 2 fights against Joshua, and he doesn’t need to fight ever again.

As long as Ruiz doesn’t get crazy with his money, he can retire with the approximate $17 million that he made from the fights with Joshua and live comfortably for the remainder of his life. Obviously, if Ruiz continues to purchase high priced cars like Ferraris and Rolls Royces, he’s going to squander his money. Automobiles depreciate rapidly.

It’s going to be tough for Ruiz to get the motivation to live the life of an elite level fighter, since it requires a lot of sweat, dedication and the willingness to endure pain.

It’s not likely that Ruiz Jr. will look in the direction of Angel Garcia to train him. Whoever Ruiz Jr. chooses, it’ll probably be someone with experience at training heavyweights. Unfortunately, Angel doesn’t have that background, as his son Danny mostly has found success at 140. At 147, Danny hasn’t proven to be nearly as good.

Andy targeting Joshua for trilogy fight

Ruiz wants to get a significant win or two under his belt before going after a trilogy match against Joshua to win his back his IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight titles.

Andy beat Joshua by a 7th round knockout in their first fight in June last year in New York. With that big victory, Ruiz became the first Mexican world heavyweight champion. However, Ruiz’s success proved to be fleeting, as failed to train hard for the rematch against Joshua, and he ended up losing in a one-sided match. Ruiz let his weight get out of control in coming into the Joshua rematch at 283 lbs, which was 15 lbs more than the 268 lbs that he weighed for the first fight.

Not only that, Ruiz was unprepared for the movement that Joshua used in the fight. If nothing else, Robles should have had Ruiz ready for much different looking Joshua for the second encounter.

Even casual boxing fans were expecting Joshua to come in a lighter weight, and use movement to keep the shorter, heavier Ruiz from getting at him. Joshua followed the blueprint created by Joshua Parker from his narrow win 12 round majority decision win over Ruiz Jr. in December 2016.