Andy Ruiz Jr. Explains Why He Returned to Boxing

The former unified heavyweight champion says time with his family and a reunion with Manny Robles reignited his drive before facing Damian Knyba.

Andy Ruiz Jr. believes leaving boxing behind for a period gave him the physical and mental reset needed to chase another heavyweight title. After recovering from multiple surgeries, he reunited with trainer Manny Robles ahead of his September 4 fight with Damian Knyba.

“I got a chance to recover my hand, my shoulder. A lot of people don’t know the surgeries that I had and all the downfalls. I was just with my kids. Being with them, it was a good time just being out of boxing as well. I got to work on a lot of different things, my social life, the things we were investing with me and my dad. It was good, but I got tired of being tired,” Ruiz said to Fighthype, explaining why he reached back out to trainer Manny Robles. “I had to call Rob. ‘Hey, Manny, you think we could reunite? You think we could get together? You think we could make history again?’ He said, ‘Yeah, just come over here and let’s train.’ Everything’s been amazing. Thanks to Jesus, thanks to God. Everything has been going just as planned.”

Their partnership produced the defining victory of Ruiz’s career in 2019 when he upset Anthony Joshua to capture three world heavyweight titles. Returning to that familiar camp, Ruiz believes he regained the discipline needed to place himself back in the heavyweight title picture.

Knyba provides Ruiz with the first test of that renewed commitment. A victory would strengthen his position among the heavyweight contenders and reward the changes he made before returning to the ring.