Andy Ruiz Jr makes his long-awaited comeback to the sport of boxing next month and he has grand plans thereafter.
The 34-year-old beat Anthony Joshua for the unified heavyweight titles back in 2019 but would lose the belts in the immediate rematch. Since then he has fought and beat Chris Arreola and Luis Ortiz before sitting out the entire 2023 after failed negotiations with Deontay Wilder and subsequent shoulder surgery.
He now faces Jarrell Miller on August 3 and, should he be victorious, wants his shot at the best in the division.
Speaking to YSM Sports Media, Ruiz was asked who out of the largely accepted top three – Oleksandr Usyk, Tyson Fury and Joshua – he would find the toughest to face. He went for the biggest man, Fury.
“I would like to face all of them but I think the toughest one, I don’t know, probably Tyson Fury. I think so. It’s hard to say, everybody has a plan until they get in that ring, and if it doesn’t come out, what do you have to do? You have to switch up the game plan. That’s what I was telling somebody – the hardest thing you can do in boxing is get dropped or get hurt and have to come back to find a way to win the fight. I’ve done that before … Yes [I’m confident I can beat all three.]
Ruiz has indeed been dropped and stood to win – that moment came against Joshua in their first fight. In the rematch he couldn’t quite close the distance against the Brit, who boxed conservatively to win his belts back.
How the Mexican-American’s opinion has changed since Usyk defeated Fury – which took place after the above interview – to become undisputed champion is unclear, but he is predicting the same result when the pair fight again come December 21.
