By Dan Ambrose: Deontay Wilder thinks Andy Ruiz Jr is beginning to show his desperation for a fight after stewing for the last two weeks after he rejected his demands.
Wilder has offered the needy 33-year-old Ruiz a gift by giving him an opportunity to fight him and earn a chance to face Anthony Joshua in a trilogy match. As the saying goes, ‘Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.’
The main obstacle preventing the fight is Ruiz & his dad, Andy Sr’s insistence on parity with Wilder because it won’t work.
If this were 2019, Ruiz would have a good chance of getting the 50-50 deal he wants against Wilder, but not anymore. Thanks to his inertia, Ruiz is yesterday’s news, the forgotten man.
Some boxing fans believe Ruiz has been enjoying the millions he made from his fight with Joshua a little too much, and as a result, he hasn’t wanted to return to work. The sloth has set in with Ruiz like quick-drying cement, and he can’t break free of its firm vice-like hold on him.
“I didn’t call you; y’all called us. I didn’t harass you about fighting; you guys harassed us about fighting,” said Deontay Wilder on social media, responding to Andy Ruiz Jr’s post.
“We weren’t in a desperate need to fight, you guys were, or else you wouldn’t have called us up on the phone in the first place. What y’all are talking about is unreasonable.”
Deontay is offering Ruiz a lotto ticket that could potentially lead to him earning many millions in a third clash with Joshua, but surprisingly, he’s not accepting it.
But instead of accepting the goodwill offer from Deontay, Ruiz has pushed for more, which fits in nicely with how he’s driven his career into the ground by his malaise since 2020.
The knockout artist Wilder says Ruiz Jr will need to back off his demands because it won’t fly, and he won’t get it by waiting him out, hoping he’ll change his mind over time. It’s not going to happen.
Ruiz (35-2, 22 KOs) and the former WBC heavyweight champion Wilder (43-2-1, 42 KOs) could meet in the fall in a huge fight, but it’s not happening unless they can agree to a split.
The popularity that Ruiz once had four years ago after his upset win over Anthony Joshua has dissipated due to his inactivity and weak opposition. As such, Andy is not in the position to call the shots for a fight with Wilder.
Ruiz & Wilder have both been out of the ring for almost a year and need to get back in action. Deontay needs a tune-up to get him ready for a fight with Anthony Joshua in Saudi Arabia, which still doesn’t have a set date yet.
Fighting the short 6’2″ Ruiz isn’t the ideal opponent for Wilder, as the 6’6″ Joshua is a much taller and different type of fighter. For tune-up purposes,
Wilder would benefit more from a fight against a taller heavyweight like Otto Wallin or Dempsey McKean. However, he’s thinking more about the money angle and less about what he needs to prepare for the AJ clash.
