By Kenneth Friedman: Eddie Hearn is continuing to downgrade Deontay Wilder after his loss a week ago to Tyson Fury. Hearn is now saying that Andy Ruiz Jr. will smash former WBC heavyweight champion Wilder to bits, and he further adds that the “aura” is gone for the American from his 7th round knockout loss to Fury.
If Fury can beat Wilder, then Ruiz can too
Hearn predicts a bleak future for Wilder with him facing guys that have no longer are afraid to walk him down, get in close and unload as Fury did. What Hearn is doing is minimizing what Fury accomplished by saying that ALL fighters will be able to beat Wilder. All they need to do is follow Fury’s blueprint, and they beat him. Ruiz is someone that Hearn strongly believes would destroy Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) with ease.
With Hearn making light of Fury’s win over Wilder by saying Ruiz can do it as well, he’s slyly raising the image of his own fighter Anthony Joshua. It’s a clever trick Hearn is using to convince boxing fans that Joshua is the #1 fighter in the division.
“I hope Wilder does come back. He’s great for the division,” said Hearn to Fighthype. “People quickly right you off. All of a sudden, ‘Wilder is useless.’ He is limited but he can punch, and he’s dangerous. My worry is the aura’s gone down like Andy Ruiz.
“I think Andy Ruiz would tear Deontay Wilder to pieces because Andy Ruiz has a great chin and he would walk Deontay Wilder down and give him fits. I don’t know if Wilder can do what AJ did, which is to work behind doors, improve, and come back mentally and physically and win, especially after Fury,” said Hearn.
What Fury did against Wilder is something that may not be easily duplicated by other fighters, least of all a short, round fighter like Ruiz Jr. What Hearn isn’t saying is Joshua created the blueprint on how to beat Ruiz last December. As Joshua showed, you just use movement against Ruiz, and he’s helpless. He has slow feet, and he can’t get in range of mobile fighters.
Fighters will follow the blueprint to beat Wilder
“People used to stand off of him because of that fear factor,” Hearn said of Wilder. “His punch power. He’s the biggest puncher of all time. Fury just found his way in and battered him. And other people will look at that now and say, ‘This is the blueprint to beat him. Once I’m in close or at mid-range, I’m good to go,” said Hearn on how easy he believes it to be to defeat Wilder.
Joseph Parker is the one that created the original blueprint on how to beat Ruiz in 2016, although his win over him is viewed as a hometown decision. In that respect, the blueprint that Parker created only partially worked for him. Ruiz still was able to catch up to Parker more than enough to deserve the decision win.