By Dan Ambrose: Andy Ruiz Jr. took to social media this week to continue his tireless campaign to lure former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder into fighting him next.
Here is the catch. Ruiz (35-2, 22 KOs) says he wants $10M for the fight with Deontay, which is a number that is unrealistic given the lack of interest boxing fans have in seeing that contest.
Some people believe Ruiz is a classic example of a fighter who has become spoiled after making big money from his two fights with Anthony Joshua.
He is no longer interested in returning to the top against top opposition in lower-paying fights. Ruiz just once the big-money fights, and he’s failed to keep himself relevant in the last four years.
There was a brief window where Ruiz could have commanded big money to fight Wilder, but that’s long past.
The combination of inactivity & fights against poor opposition has hurt Ruiz’s popularity which he enjoyed after his upset victory over Anthony Joshua in June 2019 is now gone.
Instead of staying busy with his career to take advantage of his 15 minutes of fame, Ruiz has fought just three times since that victory in these contests:
- Anthony Joshua – rematch in December 2019
- Chris Arreola
- Luis Ortiz
Wilder & his team were briefly interested in fighting the former unified heavyweight champion Ruiz.
Still, the negotiations went nowhere due to Andy’s high demands, who once again priced himself out of a big fight, as he did for a match against WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.
Deontay has now moved on towards a fight with Anthony Joshua in Saudi Arabia early next year, and Ruiz is longer in his plans.
“I’ll fight him for $10 million,” said Andy Ruiz Jr. on social media. “Tell him to pay me what I deserve.
“They’re trying to pay me what I made for my last fight [Luis Ortiz]. It doesn’t make sense. They all know I’m a threat,” said Ruiz.
If Team Wilder is offering the 33-year-old Rruiz what he made for his fight against 43-year-old Luis Ortiz last year in September, they must realize that it’s a match that won’t sell on PPV.
It’s not too late for Ruiz to get back into the world title picture, but he’s going to need to stop enjoying the $10 million fortune that he got from his two fights with Joshua to work his way back to the top.
It’s unclear how much Ruiz has left of the money he made from the AJ fight. If Ruiz is still hungry, he’s got to be more active and start fighting relevant contenders, not the old guys he’s been fighting since his loss to Joshua in December 2019.
