Andy Ruiz: The Former Heavyweight Champion Aiming To Get His Career Back On Track
It was only four fights ago in the career of Andy Ruiz Jr that he achieved one of the most seismic shocks in boxing history.
A last-minute replacement for Jarrell Miller after ‘Big Baby’ failed to drug test, Ruiz was a rank outsider when he climbed through the ropes to face the unified heavyweight champion of the world, Anthony Joshua – an unbeaten, unstoppable force of nature.
On his American debut at the famed Madison Square Garden in New York City, it was an event designed to be Joshua’s coming out party; an occasion to take the British superstar global.
From the outset it looked a mismatch; the tall, rangy, chiselled Joshua towering over the short, stocky, flabby Ruiz. And it was all going according to plan when AJ dropped Ruiz in the third round, another highlight reel knockout surely just a matter of time.
But then Ruiz flipped the script. As Joshua went in for the kill, aiming to extend his perfect KO streak, the Mexican-American landed a flush left hook to the head that scrambled AJ’s brain and turned his legs to spaghetti. Down went Joshua and down he went again in one of the most dramatic u-turns boxing had ever seen inside one round.
Ruiz Shocks The World
The champion spent the next three rounds trying to recompose himself, but he’d burned through too much energy. By the seventh round, it was Ruiz who was well on top. He sent Joshua to the canvas for a third time with a barrage of punches to signal the beginning of the end.
The end indeed came just moments later under another rapid Ruiz combination as an exhausted AJ slumped to the ground. He rose to his feet once again, but referee Michael Griffin was not convinced he could continue and waved it off.
Ruiz, against all odds and expectations, had become the unified heavyweight champion of the world.
After that glorious crowning moment, Ruiz’s reign would prove short-lived. Determined to exact revenge, Joshua triggered the rematch clause, and six months later, the Briton carefully and methodically navigated his way to a comfortable unanimous points victory to become a two-time world champion.
Since the rematch, in December 2019, Joshua has fought seven more times. Twin defeats to Oleksandr Usyk threatened to derail his career but a successful 2023 and strong start to 2024 – by crushing Francis Ngannou – has put AJ back in title contention.
A Career Stalled And Opportunities Missed
Ruiz, on the other hand, has seen his career stall. Since the defeat to Joshua, ‘The Destroyer’ has fought just twice, securing unanimous points wins over 40-year-old Chris Arreola in May 2021 and over-the-hill Luis Ortiz in September 2022.
Such has been Ruiz’s prolonged inactivity, he now finds himself ranked outside the top 15 with all four governing bodies. It’s a remarkably sharp decline for a fighter who was world champion of the IBF, WBA, and WBO only two fighters ago.
Part of his more recent inactivity can be attributed to injury, with Ruiz undergoing surgery on a torn rotator cuff last year. But there is no denying that with the heavyweight division thriving – and Saudi Arabian money providing ample opportunities – Ruiz has wasted valuable time.
He will aim to get his career back on track on August 3 when he faces Miller on the undercard of Terence Crawford’s fight with WBA super-welterweight title holder Israil Madrimov as ‘Bud’ attempts to become a four-weight world champion.
The event in Los Angeles is associated with Riyadh Season – the months-long entertainment festival in Saudi Arabia during which many big fights have taken place – so it’s the ideal chance for Ruiz to get on Saudi boxing supremo Turki AlShaikh’s radar.
Ruiz Has Joshua And Parker In His Sights
Despite appearances, Ruiz is a credible and legitimate heavyweight contender. His physique may not reflect that of a typical heavyweight, but he has undeniable skill and power, and there is an argument that he possesses the fastest hands in the division.
His only defeats have come against Joshua in the rematch and a razor-thin, majority decision loss to Joseph Parker in 2016 for the vacant WBO world title. A fit and active Ruiz should be among the top six or seven heavyweights in the world, and he is aiming to prove that on his return against Miller.
“First, I got to secure the win. Got to just climb up the ladders again,” he said, before stating his ambitions of securing a trilogy bout with Joshua and a rematch with the WBO’s interim champion Parker.
“I’m not saying that I’m super far away from that, but I just got to get two fights in,” Ruiz added. “After I do these fights and get back into the groove, I’d love to fight Joseph Parker, [Deontay] Wilder and Joshua. The main thing is training and staying in shape. After this fight, I plan on training and training and come back in December.”
At 34 years old, Ruiz still has time to resurrect his career so long as there are no more significant setbacks. If he is able to “climb up the ladder” then the heavyweight division will become even more interesting.
