Andy and John, A Heavyweight Tale of Two Ruiz
By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
There have been two historical Ruiz heavyweights, one a former world champion, the other currently a wannabe world champion. Since Andy Ruiz Jr. is in high consideration as the next challenger for World Heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua at Madison Square Garden in June 2019, a historical look at both Ruiz heavyweights is of great interest.
Hailing from Chelsea, Massachusetts, John Ruiz, also known as ‘The Quiet Man’, was the first fighter to hold a share of the World Heavyweight championship since Rocky Marciano. With a record of 44-9-1 with 30 knockouts, Ruiz fought between 1992 and 2010, and figured into 12 World Boxing Association and International Boxing Organization world heavyweight title bouts. Ruiz also figured into 10 WBC, NABA, NABF regional title bouts and WBA and WBC eliminator bouts. Overall, Ruiz got a piece of a lot of important bouts and important fighters of his time as the present and former World Boxing Association World Heavyweight champions, in the era before the so-called WBA super champions.
Andy Ruiz Jr. is no relation to John Ruiz.
Andy ‘Destroyer’ Ruiz Jr., age 29, 32-1 with 21 knockouts, Imperial, California, turned pro in 2009 with a first round knockout of Miguel Salvador Ramirez in Tijuana, Mexico. A former NABF and WBO-Intercontinental titleholder, Ruiz lost his first world title opportunity, a 12 round majority decision loss to Joseph Parker in December 2016 in the then 21-0 Parker’s hometown of Auckland, New Zealand. Parker lost twice since then, to Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte (who remains in contention for a rematch with Joshua). Andy wants in fact to fight Jarrell Miller next, who was supposed to fight Joshua.
Andy has risen to prominence with recent wins over Kevin Johnson and Alexander Dimitrenko, though the faded Johnson took Ruiz the full ten rounds, winning three rounds on two of the judges’ scorecards. That performance, while promising, indicates Ruiz lacks harder heavyweight contender bout experience, and is still in a position to be outclassed by Joshua if he takes the Joshua bout. There is not sufficient time to prepare in complete, a factor which must be weighed by the outstanding opportunity and payday being offered.
Trained by Freddie Roach, Andy had an amateur record of 105-5, and was the 2007 and 2008 Mexican National champion. In major amateur bouts, Andy lost to Robert Alonzo, Oscar Rivas (who next fights Dillian White), Michael Hunter Jr., and Zhang Zhilei.
Odds For Anthony Joshua’s next opponent at Madison Square Garden
Andy Ruiz Jr. 1:1 (Contender)
Michael Hunter Jr. 10:1 (Contender)
Trevor Bryan 20: 1 (Interim WBA Champion)
Manuel Charr 30:1 (WBA Regular Champion)
Dillian Whyte 40: 1. (Scheduled To Fight Oscar Rivas)
Agit Kabayel 50:1. (EBU European Champion)
Otto Wallin 55:1 (Unbeaten Contender involved in a Recent One Round No Contest with Nick Kisner)
Adam Kownacki 60:1 (Unbeaten Fighter)
Daniel Dubois 70:1. (Unbeaten British Fighter Calls Out Joshua.)
Kyotaro Fujimoto 75:1 (WBO Asia Pacific and OPBF Champion)
Joe Joyce 80:1 (Unbeaten Olympic Silver Medalist Calls Out Joshua)
Oleksandr Usyk 90:1 (Unbeaten Cruiserweight Champion
Moving Up to Heavyweight to Fight Carlos Takam)
George Arias 95:1 (Unbeaten Heavyweight Scheduled to Fight Keith Barr)
Oscar Rivas 100:1 (Unbeaten Fighter Scheduled to Fight Dillian Whyte)
Chris Arreola 110:1 (Contender)
Sergey Kuzmin 125:1 (Unbeaten Fighter)
Robert Helenius 150:1 (Contender now serving as the principal sparring partner for WBC World Heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder for hisupcoming titular defense against Dominic Breazeale)
Felip Hrgovic 200:1 (Unbeaten Fighter)
Efe Ajagba 300:1 (Unbeaten Fighter)
Zhilei Zhang 400:1 (Unbeaten FIghter)
Luis Ortiz 500:1 (Wants More Money)
Tyson Fury 1000:1 (Scheduled to Fight Tom Schwarz)
Jarrell Miller: 10000:1 (Denied New NYS Boxing License After Testing Positive for Banned Substances. Another State Could Issue Miller a New license. Miller Would Have to Test Negative. Scenario Unlikely, However)
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