Andy Ruiz Jr back in the gym training

By Boxing News - 06/25/2020 - Comments

By Dan Ambrose: Andy Ruiz Jr posted some video of him working out in the gym with Jorge Capetillo in getting for when his next fight is set-up. Ruiz Jr (33-2, 22 KOs) looked thin in the video, and he is using a lot of upper body movement to work on his defense.

Ruiz has lost weight, and we’ll see if his power diminishes now. He doesn’t have much choice. It’s either Ruiz Jr take the weight off so that his foot speed is fast enough for him to get to the quicker heavyweights or he’s going to keep losing to mobile fighters.

Improving on Ruiz’s defense is just one area that he needs work on before he goes after the big names in the heavyweight division. The former IBF/WBA/WBC champion Ruiz Jr (33-2, 22 KOs) has already gotten off to a good start in losing a bunch of weight.

Ruiz needs to be quicker on his feet

With Ruiz looking trimmer, he’ll need to focus on cutting off the ring against fighters that try and emulate what Anthony Joshua did in beating him last December in Saudi Arabia. Joshua moved around the ring all night, jabbing and holding Ruiz whenever he would get close.

It was the same style that former heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko used during the second half of his career. He learned it from Emanuel Stewart, and it works, but it’s boring style. You can argue that’s one of the reasons why Wladimir failed to become a big star in the U.S the way he was in Germany.

Image: Andy Ruiz Jr back in the gym training

Some boxing fans were already speculating on social media whether Ruiz’s new trainer Eddy Reynoso kicked him out of the gym for not training hard and skipping sessions. However, Ruiz Jr hasn’t started training with Reynoso yet in San Diego.

Once Ruiz has a fight scheduled against someone, then he’ll start training with Ruiz. From there, we’ll see if Reynoso gives Ruiz the boot for him being a slacker and not willing to put out the effort needed for him to excel.

Andy Jr starting over with the new trainer

In an unpopular move, Ruiz split with his last trainer Manny Robles following his loss to Joshua last December. A lot of boxing fans didn’t like how Ruiz cut Robles loose after admitting that he hadn’t put in the effort needed in training camp to get ready for the Joshua fight.

Ruiz wasn’t showing up for some of the training sessions, and he let himself get too heavy at 283 lbs. Robles said recently; there was nothing he could do about it. He couldn’t force Ruiz to come and train every day, and he was unhappy how he wasted the opportunity that he had as the three-belt heavyweight champion.

Ruiz Jr wants a trilogy fight against Joshua, but he’ll need to work his way to earn it. Under an ideal situation, Ruiz could get a third fight with Joshua as early as 2022 if he beats some notable names in 2020 and 2021.

It’s more likely that Ruiz won’t get a third fight with Joshua until 2023 or 2024 if then. Ruiz can get a fight with Joshua if he beats some talented guys, but it’s unknown if he can do that.

 

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Good training session today with @jorgecapetillo02 🇲🇽🏆🥊 #teamdestroyer

A post shared by Andy Ruiz Jr (@andy_destroyer13) on