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By: Sean Crose
Andy Ruiz was unquestionably the toast of boxing back in 2019. In fact, after shocking Anthony Joshua in Joshua’s American debut in June of that year, Ruiz became a legitimate fan favorite. It was hard not to admire a man who agreed to take on a heavyweight champion of the world on short notice before beating that champion, after all. For Joshua had been scheduled to face Jarrell Miller that June evening, but Miller had to drop out due to a positive drug test. Ruiz subsequently took his chance and stunned the world. The man was literally an overnight sensation.
Unfortunately the party was not meant to last long. Soon after being celebrated as a Snickers loving, jolly faced underdog story come true, Ruiz began to show signs of evaporating discipline. He was celebrating his big moment, sure, but he was scheduled to have a rematch with Joshua in December. Needless to say, when the two men met again, this time in Saudi Arabia, Joshua was to win handily. Changing his style, Joshua was able to avoid the sloppy looking, undertrained Ruiz by opting to box instead of engage in a slug fest. In short, Joshua made it all look easy.
There hasn’t been much action from the Ruiz camp since that time. Two fights, one against Chris Arreola and one against Luis Ortiz respectively, ended up in Ruiz victories. Still, the man has only had two fights in the past four years. August 8th, Ruiz will return to the ring. His opponent? The man who was supposed to face Joshua the night of the Brit’s American debut, Jarrell Miller, will now be facing Ruiz’ that evening at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. It’s an interesting pairing between one fighter who is seen as an underachiever and a another fighter who is seen as having been letting his talents go to waste.
Ruiz, however, makes it clear he now wants to make the most of his opportunities. Speaking with DAZN, Ruiz admitted that he didn’t make the most of his success after it had unexpectedly arrived. “I think I stayed too much in the party life,” Ruiz claimed. “I was still enjoying the win.” In short, Ruiz let the good times get the better of him. “I totally forgot I had the rematch in six months,” he added. “It goes by so fast.” Indeed. At just 34 years of age, however, the man can make up for lost time…as can the 36 year old Miller. It should be an interesting fight.
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