By Sean Jones: Andy Ruiz Jr. is working hard losing weight, talking about “six-pack’ abs, getting ready to begin training with his new coach Eddy Reynoso. The former IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Ruiz Jr. (33-2, 22 KOs) posted a clip of him working out on social media in his three-car garage in his new monster house that he purchased recently.
After Ruiz’s loss to Anthony Joshua, he’s being called a ‘One-hit wonder’ and seen as another Buster Douglas or Oliver McCall. Ruiz blew his chance to make massive money by coming into his rematch with Joshua grossly out of shape last December. The money that Ruiz made from his first fight with Joshua the previous year made it hard for him to focus on his training.
With Ruiz Jr. Now being trained by Canelo Alvarez’s trainer Reynoso, he needs to get in as good a shape as possible before he starts camp.
If Ruiz, 31, were to come into training camp with Reynoso as slack as he was before the start of his last camp with trainer Manny Robles, it might not work out. Reynoso is used to his fighters coming into camp in good condition, and he would have problems with a 300+ pound Ruiz.
Ruiz needs to rebuild his career
Andy Jr. is coming off of a 12 round unanimous decision defeat to Anthony Joshua on December 7 in Saudi Arabia. If Ruiz had been in good shape, he would have had a chance of winning, but he came into the contest weighing a fat 283 pounds.
If Ruiz had beaten Joshua, he would have had a chance to face him in a trilogy match with a 50-50 split of the money. The financials were tilted heavily in Joshua’s favor for their December fight due to the rematch clause from their first contest last June.
That’s why Ruiz needed to win the rematch last December because if he’d won the fight, the purse split would have been straight down the middle for a third fight. Unfortunately for Ruiz, there will be no trilogy match. Joshua has moved on to defend against His IBF mandatory Kubrat Pulev, and after that, he’ll likely face WBC champion Tyson Fury.
Will Ruiz last in Canelo’s camp?
With Reynoso being a no-nonsense type of coach, Ruiz may not last long with the Canelo camp. Two of Ruiz’s past coaches – Abel Sanchez and Manny Robles – both criticized him recently for the way he slacks off. After 11 years as a professional, a tiger can’t change his stripes.
Why would things be any different with Reynoso as Ruiz’s trainer? If Ruiz couldn’t perform the way his well-known past coaches wanted him to, then it’s unlikely to be any different with Reynoso. The question is, how long will Reynoso put up with Ruiz before he dumps him?
It’s not the end of the world for Ruiz. He can work his way back into a title shot, but he’ll need to win two to four fights before that happens.
Ruiz could be facing former two-time world title challenger Chris Arreola next. His name has been mentioned as a potential option for Ruiz’s next fight.
Luis Ortiz is another name that has been mentioned as a future option for Ruiz. A win over the two-time world title challenger Ortiz could earn Ruiz a title shot. It’s still unlikely that Ruiz will be given a title shot against Joshua or Fury in 2021 because those two have other fish to fry next year.
