By Dan Ambrose: Andy Ruiz Jr. still doesn’t have an opponent nailed down for his next fight in September, but he’s saying Luis ‘King Kong’ Ortiz and Dillian Whyte are two options that are being considered.
It’s unclear whether ‘The Destroyer’ Ruiz, 31, is just blowing smoke by mentioning the highly ranked WBC interim champion Whyte (28-2, 18 KOs) and #3 WBA, #3 WBC Ortiz (32-2, 27 KOs) as potential options for his next fight.
Ruiz’s old trainer Abel Sanchez advised that he take the fight with the 42-year-old Luis Ortiz next. He thinks that’s a good option for him.
Ruiz Jr might be the underdog against Whyte
Given how poor Ruiz looked in his last fight against 40-year-old Chris Arreola on May 1st, you’d have to make him the underdog against Ortiz or Whyte. Both of those guys are fighting on a higher level than what we saw from Andy against Arreola, who dropped him like a bad habit in the second round.
Boxing fans shouldn’t expect too much from Ruiz for his next fight in September because his management may choose to play it safe by putting him in with a guy that they’re 100% certain he can beat.
With Ruiz’s high ranking with the WBC & WBO, he will get another title shot sooner or later, even if he fights journeyman-level fighters.
Those two sanctioning bodies have Ruiz ranked high, so he doesn’t need to take a risky fight against Whyte or Ortiz for him to get another crack at a world title eventually.
The downside of Ruiz’s management choosing to match him against beatable opposition is that it will take him a little longer to get another title shot.
So instead of Ruiz getting a world title shot in 2022 by beating WBC interim belt-holder Whyte, he may need to wait until 2023 or 2024 before he gets another chance.
You can argue that Ruiz isn’t good enough to beat Whyte, so he might be better off taking a less risky path to another world title shot.
Yeah, it’ll make Ruiz looks weak if he opts to fight sub-level opposition, but at least he’ll get another title shot and a big payday against whoever is the world champion.
Not surprisingly, the guy that Ruiz wants is Anthony Joshua, as he made a lot of money fighting him in their two fights in 2019.
Andy Jr has shown no improvement
Ruiz Jr is now being trained by Canelo’s coach Eddy Reynoso, but he’s not showing any improvement whatsoever. On the contrary, Ruiz Jr looks worse in terms of how he’s fighting.
Yeah, Ruiz has lost weight, but he looked shaky the entire 12 round fight against the old-timer Arreola. What’s interesting was how Ruiz Jr had insisted that having Reynoso as his coach would change everything, making him better than ever.
Unfortunately, there’s no improvement in Ruiz’s game, and he might as well be back with some of his previous trainers Abel Sanchez and Manny Robles. Ruiz is playing musical chairs, switching out trainers, as if one will of them will magically transform him into something that he was never designed to be.
Will Ruiz Jr take a risky fight?
If Ruiz is serious about wanting to earn a third fight with Anthony Joshua to get another big payday, he will have to beat the likes of Whyte or Ortiz to be considered.
Ruiz Jr won’t earn the trilogy with AJ by facing old-timers in gimme fights, which he appears to be trying to do.
Ruiz Jr (34-2, 22 KOs) wants a quick third fight with heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, but disappointed, he’s thus far not shown the desire to earn it by taking on quality opposition.
One fight removed from a lopsided 12 round decision loss to Joshua in 2019, Ruiz Jr started calling him out following an unimpressive 12 round decision win over fringe contender Chris Arreola last May.
Despite Ruiz Jr taking on a lower-tier contender in Arreola, he pushed Joshua to fight him again. That’s obviously not the type of win that Ruiz Jr needs for him to earn a third fight.