By Dan Ambrose: Andy Ruiz Jr has priced himself out of the summer fight with former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder by demanding a 50-50 deal for a tune-up match for ‘the Bronze Bomber.’
If Ruiz doesn’t change his mind bout his demand for parity with Wilder, this one be the second massive fight that slipped through the fingers of the former IBF, WBA & WBO heavyweight champion Andy.
Recently, Ruiz priced himself out in negotiations for a fight with WBC champion Tyson Fury, reportedly wanting $20 million, which was refused.
Andy misses out
Ruiz seems to be refusing to confront the unpleasant reality that he’s no longer a heavyweight champion and his career has gone down the drain due to his inactivity. He’s only fought twice in the last four years since 2019.
“He and his trainer want Andy [Ruiz Jr] to accept a ridiculous amount of money,” said Ruiz’s dad to Izquierdazo about former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder & his trainer Malik Scott. “Andy is not a random name.
“Wilder wants to offer Andy around 30% [70-30 split]. The only thing we are asking is a 50-50 split, and we are ready to fight Wilder.
“Andy and Wilder are going to fill up a stadium; they are going to sell a crazy amount of PPV because everybody wants to see that fight,” said Ruiz Sr.
In other words, Ruiz can’t dictate to popular fighters like Wilder & Tyson Fury, that he’s on the same level as them because he’s not. He’s just another example of a one-hit wonder in the Buster Douglas mold.
For those who don’t know about Buster Douglas. He pulled off a massive upset of then IBF/WBA/WBC heavyweight champion Mike Tyson in February 1990, stopping him in the tenth round.
Douglas then slacked off and came into his next fight looking puffy & out of shape against Evander Holyfield and was knocked out in the third round.
After that loss, Douglas’ career was never the same, as he was never able to recapture the glory that he did from that upset victory over Tyson.
Now fast forward 33 years to 2023, and you’re seeing this era’s version of Buster Douglas in the form of Andy Ruiz Jr, who obviously doesn’t know history well enough to realize that he’s following in the footsteps of Busteer.
Is Ruiz in denial?
But in Ruiz’s career, he’s failing to grasp that he’s no longer in the position to call the shots because his career has gone into a freefall due to his lack of dedication and inactivity.
Whatever popularity Ruiz had from his upset sixth-round knockout victory over Anthony Joshua, he’s squandered it by enjoying his new wealth too much & not getting back to work like other hard-working people.
Wilder isn’t going to give Ruiz the split he’s asking for because this is a tune-up for him, and he’s got much bigger fish to fry against Anthony Joshua in December.
Really, Deontay shouldn’t be taking this kind of a high-risk warm-up fight to prepare him for Joshua because A. Ruiz is not going to prepare him for AJ and B. It’s risky.
If Ruiz doesn’t want to accept the offer, Wilder will move on and face someone else or, more likely, sit and wait until December for his massive payday fight against Joshua.
What Ruiz & his dad aren’t considering is the considerable payoff they’d be getting if they agreed to the more minor split and beat Wilder.
They would be the ones that likely would be facing Joshua in December and making huge money, far more than they did in the previous contests they had against AJ in 2019.
According to ‘The Destroyer’ Ruiz Jr’s dad, Andy Sr, Wilder’s team offered them a 70-30 split, but that wasn’t good enough. Ruiz Jr (35-2, 22 KOs), who some see as a one-hit wonder, wants parity despite having done nothing with his career since his loss to Joshua.
