By Jim Calfa: Moments after Andy Ruiz Jr’s 12 round unanimous decision win over Luis Ortiz last Sunday night, Deontay Wilder made it clear that he’s opponent to fighting Ruiz.
Wilder was ringside to watch Ruiz defeat Ortiz in an exciting fight at the Crypto Arena in Los Angeles. Deontay said he’s open to fighting Ruiz (35-2, 22 KOs) after he gets past his October 15th fight against Robert Helenius at the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Ruiz looked shakey at times tonight, getting hurt and tagged by a lot of heavy shots from Ortiz. Ruiz pulled out the victory by dropping Ortiz three times in the contest.
“It was a great fight as I thought it would be. Ortiz just came up short tonight. I thought he should have let his hands go a little bit more. He was very cautious,” said Deontay Wilder to Fighthype.
“All praises to Andy. He put up a great fight. He fought the right fight, so you’ve got to give a big up to him. We all do bad and good things in there. That’s up to our description as we go back in the ring to see what we have to fix and what not to fix.
“Overall, it was a great fight, and I think people got their money’s worth for sure. I definitely got mine. Most definitely, that’s what it looks like the road is going,” said Wilder when asked if he’d entertain a fight against Ruiz.
“Everybody is hinting about that fight. When you’re at a fight, most likely, the powers that be are trying to line something up. We’ll see what happens.
“If he [Tyson Fury] overprices himself [for the Oleksandr Usyk] for that fight, they know where to find me. Five hundred million is definitely pricing himself out. I’m here. Deontay Wilder is back. I’m here to make the division strong and exciting again.
“I’m here for all the smoke, but we’ll see what happens. Boxing is strictly a business, and you got to treat it accordingly. We’ll see what the business is and how it’s being handled for that fight to happen.
“I’m in the heavyweight division, so I’m up for anyone in the heavyweight division,” said Wilder.
