By Jim Calfa: Michael Hunter is leaning towards Andy Ruiz Jr defeating Deontay Wilder due to his experience when the two meet for the WBC heavyweight title eliminator.
Wilder vs. Ruiz Jr still hasn’t been signed, but it’s expected to take place in the summer.
With WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury busy fighting Oleksandr Usyk, there’s no hurry for Wilder to quickly negotiate the contest with Ruiz because he’s going to have to wait until 2024 anyway before he gets a shot at the Gypsy King.
Like many, Hunter is intrigued by the Wilder vs. Ruiz Jr fight between these two ex-world champions, and he sees it as a match-up between big punchers with vastly different physical frames.
“We got one tall, skinny toothpick and one short marshmallow,” said Michael Hunter to iD Boxing about the Deontay Wilder vs. Andy Ruiz Jr fight.
“Andy Ruiz’s experience is going to come through on this one. He thinks a little bit more in there than Deontay Wilder, but Wilder has the leverage, he has the height, and he’s starting to find his distance a little better as he gets older.
“I think it’s a very exciting fight; they’re both big punchers,” said Hunter.
Ruiz didn’t look that good in his recent 12 round unanimous decision win over 43-year-old Luis Ortiz last September. Despite knocking Ortiz down three times, Ruiz squeaked out a victory.
In between the knockdowns, Ruiz was getting thoroughly outboxed by the talented Cuban Ortiz, who showed that even at 43, he still passed a lot more skills.
Although the 33-year-old former IBF, WBA & WBO heavyweight champion Ruiz Jr (35-2, 22 KOs) has lost a lot of weight since he embarrassingly weighed in at a flabby 283 lbs for his rematch with Anthony Joshua in December 2019, he’s still not exactly what you’d describe as being svelte.
Wilder (43-2-1, 42 KOs) recently won his first fight in three years, defeating his former sparring partner Robert Helenius by a first round knockout last October in a spectacular performance from the 6’7″ ‘Bronze Bomber.’
What was interesting about Wilder’s victory was the different look that he had. Instead of going straight after his opponents as he usually does, Wilder circled the ring for most of the first round, trying to keep away from the hard-hitting Helenius.
Finally, near the end of the round, Wilder connected with a short right hand to the head of Helenius that knocked out cold on the canvas. If Wilder fights like that against Ruiz, he could produce an equally quick knockout, and the same applies to a fourth contest with Tyson Fury.
