Andy Ruiz Gets Another Chance
Eddie Hearn Rebuilds Andy Ruiz
Andy Ruiz Jr. has been given what could be his last serious chance to rebuild a heavyweight career littered with false dawns after admitting he had to be “broken” to become a better fighter.
The former unified heavyweight champion has signed a multi-fight promotional deal with Matchroom Boxing and will return on DAZN, with his next fight set to be announced this week.
Ruiz is 36 and has spent years threatening to launch another run at the heavyweight title.
New trainers have arrived. Training footage has emerged. Ruiz has gotten himself back into shape and spoken repeatedly about returning to the top.
His record since the night he destroyed Anthony Joshua at Madison Square Garden tells its own story.
Ruiz lost his world titles to Joshua in their December 2019 rematch before beating Chris Arreola in May 2021 and Luis Ortiz in September 2022.
Another two years passed before he drew with Jarrell Miller in August 2024 and has not fought since.
World Boxing News has followed the pattern closely. Ruiz would return to the gym, appear to be getting himself into condition and talk about another push toward the heavyweight championship.
Even his reunion with Manny Robles, the trainer who guided him to his career-defining victory over Joshua, initially failed to produce a sustained run of fights.
Ruiz was also linked with Zuffa Boxing before his name was absent from the promotion’s initial 93-fighter roster.
Now he has finally secured the multi-fight platform needed to remove one excuse from the equation.
“I believe everything happens for a season and I’m so grateful God is giving me a second opportunity to do everything right,” Ruiz said.
Ruiz has made comeback promises before, but this time his own words acknowledge how badly things have gone since becoming world champion.
He has already reached the top of boxing, but everything that followed has been the problem.
There is also considerable irony in the man now tasked with getting Ruiz active again.
Eddie Hearn watched from ringside as Ruiz inflicted a shuddering defeat on Joshua in New York in June 2019, ripping away the WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight titles and destroying plans surrounding the British superstar’s road to undisputed.
“The heavyweight landscape is always evolving, and a fully fit and firing Andy Ruiz Jr. is a nightmare for anyone in the division.
“Andy shocked the world in New York with his stunning victory over AJ, and if ‘The Destroyer’ from that night returns to the ring, there is no doubt he can become a two-time world champion.”
Hearn has already plotted a possible third fight between Joshua and Ruiz in 2027 after two planned bouts involving AJ and Tyson Fury.
But first, Hearn has to achieve something boxing has struggled to get from Ruiz since his first Joshua fight.
He has to keep Ruiz in the gym long enough to build the sustained run of fights that has been missing for seven years.
The man whose heart Ruiz broke at Madison Square Garden may now be the man tasked with getting him active enough to face Joshua for a third time.
If Ruiz really has been “broken” to become a better fighter, this could be his last chance to prove it.
Phil Jay is the Editor-in-Chief of World Boxing News (WBN) and a veteran boxing reporter with 15+ years of experience. He has interviewed world champions, broken international exclusives, and reported ringside since 2010. Read full bio.
Source: www.worldboxingnews.net
