By William Lloyd: Andy Ruiz Jr. is interested in facing Tyson Fury next for his March fight in the U.S, as long as his WBC title is available. Fury’s promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank mentioned the former IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Ruiz (34-2, 22 KOs) on Tuesday as one of the two options he has for Fury’s next fight in March.
One major problem preventing the Fury-Ruiz Jr. fight from happening is that Ruiz Jr. wants to fight for Fury’s WBC heavyweight title, but that’s not going to happen. Arum said Fury’s WBC belt would NOT be on the line for his next fight.
Instead, Fury will be defending his Ring Magazine heavyweight title, which isn’t one of the prestigious A-B-C belts that Ruiz is craving. Ultimately, it’ll be up to Ruiz Jr. if he feels fighting Fury is worth it without the WBC title at stake.
The payday Ruiz will get facing Fury will likely be just as good as his two fights with Anthony Joshua, which means he could potentially get close to $5 million for the contest. If Ruiz doesn’t take the fight with Fury because the WBC title not being on the line, he may live to regret his decision.
Ruiz wants Fury’s WBC title
“Let’s go. I need that WBC belt @wbcmoro,” said Andy Ruiz Jr. per Michael Benson on Social media.
That’s good money for a fighter coming off a less than impressive victory over 40-year-old Chris Arreola last May. Ruiz was dropped hard in the second round by the over-the-hill Arreola and was lucky he wasn’t knocked out.
Andy looked little better than Arreola in that fight, and it was difficult to believe that ‘The Destroyer’ had once held three world titles. Ruiz resembled a ham-and-egger type of fighter against Arreola, and it seems evident from watching that performance that Andy lacks the talent to win another world title.
As I said, there’s NO guarantee that Ruiz will ever get another world title shot again at this point because for him to get a crack at a TRUE world title against champions Fury or Oleksandr Usyk.
Unfortunately, Ruiz will likely need to fight a title eliminator against a talented heavyweight like Frank Sanchez, Joe Joyce, Deontay Wilder, or Daniel Dubois.
Andy Ruiz = One hit wonder?
Despite upsetting Anthony Joshua in their first fight in June 2019, Ruiz is a VERY limited fighter and not a great talent. His win over Joshua was a James ‘Buster’ Douglas type of victory where an average heavyweight put together the perfect night against a vulnerable champion.
For those who remember Douglas, he was a one-hit-wonder who pulled off a massive upset against an unmotivated-looking IBF/WBA/WBC heavyweight champion Mike Tyson in February 1990 in Tokyo, Japan.
Eight months later, the flabby-looking out-of-shape Buster Douglas was knocked out in three rounds by Evander Holyfield in October 1990, and his career quickly fizzled after that defeat, going downhill.
Lacking the talent to compete with the best in the division, Douglas returned to his obscurity before his massive victory over Tyson. We could see the same thing from Andy Ruiz Jr., and that’s why he needs to grab the Fury fight with both hands, even if his WBC title isn’t on the line.
The way Ruiz looked against the shot to pieces 40-year-old Arreola, he’s NOT going to beat any of those fighters.
Reynoso hasn’t improved Ruiz
Since signing on with trainer Eddy Reynoso, Ruiz looks like he’s not improving at all and appears to be going downhill. Ruiz might be wasting his time with Reynoso, who also trains Canelo Alvarez.
But in the case of Canelo, he’s one of those fighters that is self-taught, learning from observation and during his fights rather than from what his coaches tell him.
The other option for Fury is Robert Helenius, but it’s believed that the 32-year-old Ruiz is in the pole position to get the fight with the ‘Gypsy King’ due to his popularity and name recognition.
Fury (31-0-1, 22 KOs) was ordered recently by the World Boxing Council to defend against his WBC mandatory challenger Dillian ‘The Body Snatcher’ Whyte. Still, according to Arum, he priced himself out of the fight by asking for $10 million+, so it’s not happening.