By Aragon Garcia: Dillian ‘The Bodysnatcher’ Whyte is at the top of the three-fighter list for Andy Ruiz Jr for the guys that he wants to fight when he returns to the ring.
Ruiz Jr says he wants the shut the mouth of Whyte (27-1, 18 KOs) has done a lot of trash talk towards him after Andy Jr chose not to agree to an offer made to him.
Whyte said it was a $5 million offer made to Ruiz, but it turns it was less than that. Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing admitted that the offer they gave Ruiz wasn’t $5 million to face Whyte.
Other than Whyte, Ruiz named these fighters on his three-fighter list:
- Anthony Joshua
- Tyson Fury or Deontay Wilder – whoever wins their trilogy match this year
Whyte, 32, isn’t in the position to entertain a fight against Ruiz Jr in 2020, as he’s taking on Alexander Povetkin on August 22 at the Matchroom Boxing HQ. That fight will probably be the last fight for Whyte before he potentially challenges the winner of the Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder III clash later this year.
It’s unlikely that Whyte would be willing to risk his WBC mandatory spot facing Ruiz Jr in September, which is when he’s expected back in the ring. That won’t be enough time for Whyte to recover from his August 22 fight with Povetkin.
Andy Jr training to shock the world
“I want to shock the world again by being in shape and having all the abilities to do it again,” said Ruiz Jr to ESNEWS. “That’s the main thing I’m going to do.
“That would have been a good fight between him and me,” said Ruiz Jr on him wanting to face Tyson Fury. “Right now, I’m in training camp. I sort of feel like I let my people down, and ‘I’ve got to bring them back up,” said Andy Jr. on his loss to Anthony Joshua.
Ruiz Jr looks like a different person entirely in the training clips he’s posted on social media lately. He’s taken off a lot of weight. He looks nothing like the 283-pound fighter that lost a 12 round unanimous decision to Joshua on December 7 at the Diriyah Arena in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia.
Ruiz Jr didn’t train seriously after beating Joshua by a seventh-round knockout on June 1 last year in New York. He only held onto his IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight titles for six months before Joshua beat him in the rematch.
Admittingly, Ruiz was too busy partying, buying things and not putting in the hard work that was expected of being a world champion. The loss by Ruiz Jr caused a lot of his supporters to abandon him quickly out of disgust, as they couldn’t identify with him, not working hard like why expected of him.
Fans don’t have the option of slacking off in their own jobs without fear of being fired, so they didn’t understand why Ruiz wouldn’t train hard.
Ruiz wants Whyte, Joshua and then Fury or Wilder
“I’d like to fight Dillian Whyte, and I’d like to shut him up,” said Andy Jr when asked which three fighters he’d like to face. “I’d like to fight the rematch again, the third fight with Anthony Joshua, and either between Wilder and Tyson Fury.
“That would be an amazing fight in the United States or over there [in the UK],” said Andy Ruiz Jr on a fight between him and Whyte. “I know I can win. I feel like I can win against Everybody, but it’s just up to me,” said Ruiz Jr.
This is a very winnable contest for Ruiz Jr against Dillian Whyte. Ruiz has hand speed, power, combination punching, and the boxing skills to beat Whyte.
He knows that he can beat Whyte if he comes in shape, and he probably beat him even if he was in the kind of condition he was for the Joshua rematch.
A match-up between Ruiz Jr and Whyte may never happen though, seeing that it would require that Dillian not lose when he faces the winner of the Tyson Fury vs. Deontary Wilder trilogy match.
If Fury is made WBC Franchise champion, then Whyte will be elevated to the WBC champion through email. That would be ideal for an eventual match between Whyte and Ruiz.
Andy Jr says he’s fighting this year
“The main thing now is to get in shape,” said Ruiz Jr. “Everybody in that fight [against Joshua] thought I was going to lose, and that’s just the miracle of God.
“Nobody thought I’d be champion of the world with the way I looked. I want to get back at it and be the man I’m supposed to be.
“And I don’t have a fight date yet, but I’m for sure going to fight this year,” said Andy Ruiz Jr. “I just want to be in shape and show Everybody. This little chubby boy is going to look good,” said Ruiz Jr.
Andy Jr already looks in a lot better shape now compared to what he looked like in his loss to Joshua six months ago. It’s admirable what Ruiz Jr has been able to do in training on his own in reducing the weight.
He didn’t need a fat farm like some fighters do when they enter training camp overweight. He’s given himself a great headstart for when he begins training with Eddy Reynoso soon. Ruiz Jr is saving himself a lot of embarrassment and hard work of taking off weight in a hurry during training camp.
When fighters do that, they rarely get good results in their fights. It’s hard for boxers to lose 20 to 60 pounds of fat during a single training camp, and then turn around and fight afterward.
September is the date that is being mentioned as for when Ruiz Jr returns to the ring, and Dominic Breazeale and Chris Arreola are two of the options available to him to select from.
