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By Jeff Aronow: Andy Ruiz Jr wants to follow Canelo Alvarez’s footsteps to become a bigger version of him when he takes on Chris Arreola in his comeback fight on May 1st on Fox Sports PBC pay-per-view.

There will be many eyes on the former IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion  Ruiz Jr (33-2, 22 KOs) from the boxing world in his fight against Arreola (38-6, 33 KOs) because they want to see if he’s improved.

Ruiz, 31, has lost approximately 60 lbs from the 313 lbs that he ballooned up to following his embarrassing loss to Anthony Joshua in December 2019.

Although Ruiz Jr took the blame for the loss, he still cut his trainer Manny Robles loose and signed up with Canelo’s coach Eddy Reynoso.

Ruiz has lost a lot of weight, and he looks better, but we don’t know that the loss of pounds will translate to a better performance inside the ring. Some heavyweights perform better when they’re carrying more weight.

Ruiz wants to become another Canelo

“My whole life, everybody has judged me for the way I looked, but I didn’t give up, and I think that’s what’s taken me this far,” said Andy Ruiz Jr on PBC on FOX. “Becoming the first Mexican heavyweight champion of the world, it was amazing.

“This fight is important because now I’m focused, and I’m going to do things right. I learned my lesson in my defeat, and I promise you that when I become a two-time Mexican heavyweight champion, I’m not going to take it for granted.

“I want to become a heavyweight Canelo, someone that is disciplined, someone that is focused and wants to conquer and do a legacy in boxing,” said Ruiz Jr.

“He [Canelo[ said, ‘Alright, let me talk to Eddy [Reynoso], and let’s see what we can do. He [Canelo] hit me back up the next day, and we had a little meeting, and that’s when they welcomed me in,” said Ruiz about how he switched trainers to Reynoso.

“They gave me the nickname ‘Detroyer’ because I was always destroying stuff,” said Ruiz on how he came about his nickname. “I guess that’s how I got stuck with the name ‘Destroyer,'” said Ruiz.

It might be a waste of Ruiz’s time trying to become another Canelo because his fighting style is different. Canelo has always been a counter puncher his entire career, and he’s left-hook reliant.

Ruiz is more of a combination punch that comes forward, looking to take out his opponents. He doesn’t seem to mind getting hit as much as Canelo, and that’s something that isn’t likely to change.

Canelo doesn’t want to get hit at all, so he puts a lot of energy into his head and upper body movement. Fighters with excellent jabs can hit him, but he’s been careful in not facing those types of fighters since his bad experience against Erislandy Lara.

Arreola confident of victory

“My name is Chris Arreola; they call me ‘The Nightmare,'” said Arreola. “I’ll come and keep coming no matter what fight is it. I ain’t scared. I want to be remembered. I’m the guy that is going to keep coming, and I’m going to come out with the victory,” said Arreola.

It’s crucial for Arreola t show some boxing ability on May 1st if he wants to beat the younger, faster, and stronger 31-year-old Ruiz Jr. Although Arreola has pretty good power for a heavyweight, he’s not in the same league as Ruiz Jr.

We know that Arreola can throw more punches than Ruiz, as saw that with his recent performance against Adam Kownacki. Arreola threw 1125 punches in their 12 round fight in 2019 and STILL came out the loser.

The judges will be scoring the rounds based on which fighter lands the cleaner, harder shots, and Ruiz Jr will likely be given the nod unless there’s a huge imbalance in punch stats.

“I think he’s working hard on the physical and technical,” said Reynoso of Andy Ruiz Jr. “I don’t know how he worked in other camps. He’s working very hard, and the results are in his physique.”

Ruiz has taken off a lot of weight since his last fight against Anthony Joshua in December 2019, but we don’t know how that has affected his punching power. If Ruiz loses a lot of power because of the massive 30+ lb weight drop, he will be vulnerable against Arreola.

“He did what most people can’t do; he knocked out the heavyweight champion with all the belts, and then he threw it away,” said Gerry Cooney.