By Allan Fox: Andy Ruiz Jr’s dad Andy Sr says he’ll beat Deontay Wilder and Luis ‘King Kong’ Ortiz and beat everyone. Ruiz was supposed to have obliterated Chris Arreola last Saturday, but he failed to do so.
Luis Ortiz and Deontay Wilder would likely be the favorite against Ruiz, and they could knock him out early.
Former IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Ruiz’s 12 round unanimous decision win over Arreola last Saturday night was his first step to returning to the top of the division, according to Andy Sr.
Unfortunately, Ruiz’s performance against 40-year-old Arreola (38-7-1, 33 KOs) caused his stock to plummet in the eyes of boxing fans with the problems he had.
Arreola dropped Ruiz in the second round and had him hurt in the third round as well. Sadly, Ruiz is no longer viewed as an elite-level heavyweight after his fight with Arreola and his previous one against Anthony Joshua.
Those two fights for Ruiz showed that he’s not at the same level talent-wise as Joshua, Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder, or Dillian Whyte.
Andy Ruiz Jr is arguably at this level:
- Alexander Povetkin
- Hughie Fury
- Kubrat Pulev
- Zhang Zhilei
- Michael Hunter
- Agit Kabayel
- Otto Wallin
Those heavyweights are NOT among the elite in the division, and neither is Ruiz after his last two fights. I don’t think Ruiz ever was an elite heavyweight.
He clearly got lucky with his victory over Joshua in their first fight in June 2019 when he caught him with a left hook while he was going for the finish after dropping him.
Ruiz Jr beats Wilder, and Ortiz says Andy Sr.
“He needs it for his career, and he has a lot of experience, Arreola. He will get his titles back, and he will beat [Deontay] Wilder, [Luis] Ortiz, this fight, two more fights, that way he can set up in the weight. He’s going to beat everyone,” said Ruiz Sr. to FightHub.
It’s not likely that Ruiz Jr beats Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) or Luis Ortiz, but you’d have to respect him if he chooses to fight them.
Many boxing fans believe that Ruiz will duck Wilder and Ortiz and choose a depleted heavyweight like Derek Chisora.
It would mark of courage for Ruiz, 31, to take on ‘King Kong’ Ortiz (32-2, 27 KOs) and Wilder in consecutive fights in 2021.
That would show the fans that Ruiz is serious about proving himself as the best in the division. Let’s be real about this.
If Ruiz isn’t good enough to deal with Wilder or Ortiz, he has no business fighting for a world title against Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.
Ruiz Sr blaming Andy’s performance on weight loss
“I felt he did a good job. The only thing he got dropped by Chris Arreola, but remember, he adjusted his weight,” said Chris Arreola Sr to Fighthub in explaining why Ruiz Jr struggled against ‘The Nightmare.’
“So in his next fight, he’ll be 255, feeling better and stronger. No, you can see the fight again, and you can see all the punches that Andy landed on Chris Arreola.
“If you see the fight again, you can see that Andy threw more punches than Chris Arreola. I was a little worried, but when he knocked Andy down, he was not hurt like when Anthony Joshua knocked Andy down.
“And I knew he was going to come in strong, and he was going to come and fight and get Arreola back. I think he’s going to be really strong in his next fight, and he’s going to be faster.
“He was rusty. He got Arreola a couple of times, but he didn’t follow up to knock him down.
“255,” said Ruiz Sr when asked what weight Andy Jr should weigh. “He lost 40 lbs that he lost. So he adjusted to the weight right now, and he hits hard at 255,” said Ruiz Sr.
It’s a plausible excuse for why Ruiz Jr didn’t look great against Arreola last Saturday, but that doesn’t explain why he never was a great heavyweight in the past.
Joseph Parker beat Ruiz in 2016, and he looked poor against Sergey Liakhovich in 2014. The only reason Ruiz got the fight with Joshua in June 2019 because he was a replacement for Joshua after Jarrell ‘Big Baby’ Miller couldn’t take the fight.