By Dan Ambrose: Eddy Reynoso is willing to take on the job as a trainer for Andy Ruiz Jr. as long as he’s disciplined and willing to follow orders. Reynoso says it would be an “HONOR” to train the former IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Ruiz Jr. (33-2, 22 KOs).
Ruiz, 31, says he hasn’t spoken to Reynoso yet, but he’d like to travel there with Canelo Alvarez to meet with him. Right now, Ruiz Jr. still has time to decide whether Reynoso is a good fit as a replacement trainer for Manny Robles, who parted ways with after his loss to Anthony Joshua last December.
Ruiz hasn’t explained what his rationale was for dumping Robles, as the trainer had nothing to do with why he lost to Joshua. Ruiz decided not to train hard for the rematch, which cost him the fight.
If Ruiz couldn’t find the motivation to get in shape for the most important fight of his career last December, it’s not likely that Reynoso will be much help to him.
Reynoso wants Ruiz Jr. to be disciplined
“Yes, of course, we are for that, to work, as long as there is discipline, that there is order,” said Reynoso to ESPN Deportes. “We’re ready to work with any fighter. It would also be an honor to work with the first heavyweight champion of Mexican descent.”
This experiment could come to a quick end if Ruiz Jr. starts skipping training sessions with Reynoso and if he does what he pleases when working with him. Whether Ruiz Jr. can change his spots after 11 years as a professional is an important question. If Reynoso wants discipline that Ruiz isn’t capable of giving him, then he’ll decide whether he wants to stick it out as his “trainer.”
It would be profitable for Reynoso to train Ruiz, being that he’s got an excellent shot at facing Anthony Joshua in the future in a trilogy match. There will be a lot of money to be made by Ruiz Jr. and Reynoso if he’s still his trainer by that point in time.
But it could be difficult for Reynoso if he is expecting Ruiz Jr. to show the same iron discipline that he’s gotten from Canelo Alvarez all these years. If Ruiz Jr. had that kind of dedication to his craft, you wouldn’t have seen him come into his rematch with Joshua weighing 283 pounds last December. Sadly, Ruiz Jr. has come in higher than that before. In his first two fights as a pro, Ruiz weighed in the 290s.
Atlas briefly was in the running for Ruiz’s new coach
The well known Teddy Atlas had briefly been considered for the job a Ruiz’s new trainer, but he never took the time to call or meet with the New York native. You can argue that Atlas, with his tough-love approach to training, would be the better fit for Ruiz than Reynoso.
What Ruiz Jr. needs now is a trainer to get in his face and check him when he starts slacking off, overeating and skipping training sessions. Reynoso doesn’t appear to be nearly as intense as Atlas. You can compare Reynoso’s low-key personality with Ruiz’s previous trainer Manny Robles.
Besides training Canelo, Reynoso trains lightweight Ryan Garcia, Frank Sanchez, Luis Nery, and Oscar Valdez. The way boxers are, they tend to follow after the famous fighters and sign with their trainers.
The reality is, there are a lot of great trainers that could do an equally good job of coaching Ruiz Jr. as Reynoso. But at this point, if Ruiz believes that Reynoso is the magic person that can give him the discipline that he needs to regain his former perch as the IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion, then so be it. For Reynoso’s sake, hopefully, he’s not dumped the next time Ruiz loses.
“We’re talking with Canelo’s team; I think that would be a good one for me to join if we go that way,” Ruiz said to ESPN. “Right now, there hasn’t been any contact, but I would like to go over there with Canelo.”
Ruiz Jr. still ranked high
The excellent news for Ruiz Jr. is he’s still ranked in the top 5 despite his one-sided loss to Joshua. If Reynoso can help him enough to get a couple of wins under his belt, he’ll be back in with Joshua for a trilogy match in 2021 or 2021.
Ruiz wants to get a warm-up fight under his belt before facing Luis Ortiz next year. That’s the fight that Ruiz is counting on getting him the third clash with AJ. Ortiz will be a very tough fight for Ruiz if he doesn’t take his training seriously with Reynoso or whoever ends up as his trainer.
It doesn’t matter who trains Ruiz. If he’s not willing to put in the work and stay disciplined, it’s going to end badly for him when he faces a halfway decent heavyweight like Ortiz.
