Heavyweight Andy Ruiz Jr. is looking to get back in the ring before too long. Ruiz is 35-2-1 (22 KOs) over a 17-year career.
He’s been inactive over the last few years; he has been flying under the radar as of late. But, the former unified world heavyweight champion is excited to make one more run at a championship before he officially calls it a day.
Ruiz turned pro in 2009 and ran off a perfect record of 29-0 (22 KOs) in his first 7 years as a pro.
That led to his first world title shot in Auckland, New Zealand, against Joseph Parker for the IBO heavyweight title. He came up short, losing a close MD over 12 rounds.
Over the next couple of years, he banged off a few more wins and found himself slotted in to face undefeated UK star Anthony Joshua in the Brit’s big United States coming out party in New York City.
Off the Parker loss, Ruiz was thought to be a safe bet for Joshua in June 2019. However, Ruiz had other plans.
Despite being dropped in the 1st round, Ruiz would hang on and turn the tables to batter Joshua into an eventual 7th round stoppage for the unified titles. He had made history by becoming the 1st heavyweight champion of Mexican descent.
Ruiz would lose the title 6 months later in the rematch via UD 12, with Joshua looking for revenge and Ruiz looking less motivated than in the first fight.
Then, over the next few years, Ruiz showed spots of his former self, going 2-0-1 against Chris Arreola, Luis Ortiz, and Jarrell Miller. However, it is the time off that has stood out as of late.
After the 2nd Joshua fight, he didn’t fight until 2021. And from 2021 until 2024, he only fought 3 times. This summer will mark 2 years out of the ring.
At age 36, where is Ruiz, mentally as much as physically, at this stage of his career?
MaxBoxing caught up with the latest on Ruiz (via www.casino.org/us), and it sounds like he is ready to make one more run at heavyweight glory.
Ruiz was asked about his first championship success in the Joshua fight – the biggest win of his career. He knew he was the underdog, but that didn’t deter him.
“It’s funny because I was doing so many interviews throughout that whole week, and I kept telling everybody that I’m gonna win. God is gonna give me the victory”, he said. “I’m going to cause an upset. Everybody was like, ‘I don’t know, he’s pretty big, he’s coming from London all the way over here, he’s on debut over here and he wants to look good’, but I was gonna die trying”.
Clearly, his faith and desire were what kept him in a fight that he had dreamed about his whole life.
“Yeah, I think having faith and wanting it so bad helped me. I was gonna die trying to become the first Mexican heavyweight champion of the world, and that’s exactly what I did. And it wasn’t just for me, it was for my kids, for my mom, my parents. It was something that we’ve been wishing and wanting for years. I’ve been fighting since I was 6 years old. My first amateur fight, I was 7 years old. So, the only thing I know how to do is boxing. Boxing and making babies”, he said.
Ruiz, as easy-going and relaxed out of the ring as he is fast and rugged in it, has accomplished a lot in his career. But he isn’t quite done yet. And he knows that when he returns, he has to stay busy and on point as he is in the twilight of his career.
“The most important thing is working on myself. I want to come back in the best shape of my life. I don’t want to have a rushed fight and then have minimal time to prepare,” he said. “When I’m ready, I don’t want to stop fighting. I want to keep going until I become a champion again. The only way to do that is by fighting 3 times a year and staying busy. Right now, I want to be selfish, especially with my career. I only have a few more years that I want to fight and then I’m going to retire. So yeah, I need to take advantage of these years.”