By Dan Ambrose: Andy Ruiz Jr will be facing two-time former heavyweight world title challenger Chris Arreola in the spring.
Mike Coppinger reporting that the former three-belt heavyweight champion Ruiz Jr (33-2, 22 KOs) will finally be back in action after a year and a half of inactivity.
Ruiz has been talking about the fight against the 39-year-old Arreola (38-6-1, 33 KOs) for over a year now, and he looks like he’s ready to get it done.
Since his last fight against Anthony Joshua in December 2019, Ruiz, 31, has lost a lot of weight, and he looks considerably sharper and leaner.
If Ruiz beats Arreola, he’ll be ready for a higher-ranked contender in the top five. Ruiz will have to win one or two top tier talented contenders for him to get the trilogy match that he’s been asking for against Joshua.
Promoter Eddie Hearn said not long ago that for Ruiz to get another fight against AJ, he’s going to need to redeem himself because his loss to Joshua was too one-sided.
Hearn wouldn’t sell a trilogy match to the UK and U.S public unless Ruiz beats some talented contenders.
Boxing fans were hoping that Ruiz would take on the highly ranked two-time world title challenger Luis ‘King Kong’ Ortiz in his first fight back, but that’s not happening.
Ruiz has been out of the ring for too long for him to face one of the talented contenders like Ortiz; even though the Cuban fighter is about to turn 42 on March 29th, he’s got the kind of skills to follow Joshua’s blueprint to give Ruiz trouble.
In addition to a win over Ortiz, Ruiz may need to beat some of these fighters to guarantee himself a third fight with Joshua:
- Dillian Whyte
- Alexander Povetkin
- Filip Hrgovic
- Daniel Dubois
- Joe Joyce
- Oleksandr Usyk
- Joseph Parker
- Tony Yoka
- Michael Hunter
Obviously, it won’t be easy for Ruiz to get fights against some of those fighters, but he can at least face two or three.
If Ruiz tries to take the backdoor route to a trilogy match against Joshua by fighting three or four Arreola-level heavyweights, he could end up with nothing to show for it.
There are too many heavyweights trying to get title shots quickly by facing substandard opposition to avoid getting beaten. It won’t work for Ruiz to try that method.
‘The Nightmare’ Arreola will be turning 40 on March 5th, and he’s the ideal opponent for Ruiz to be fighting right now.
Arreola hasn’t fought since his 12 round unanimous decision defeat to Adam Kownacki in August 2019, and he’ll have a lot of ring rust. In that fight, Arreola threw 1125 punches.
Andy changed out his trainer Manny Robles in place of Eddy Reynoso, and thus far, the change has been a waste.
Ruiz could be just as inactive with Robles as he’s been with Reynoso, and Arreola is someone he could have beaten with his former trainer in his corner.
“Per sources, the clash between former heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz Jr. and Chris Arreola is still on and now slated for the spring,” said @MikeCoppinger.
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