Andy Ruiz Jr returns to the ring after near two years out to face Jarrell Miller, the recently-defeated 300lbs heavyweight from Brooklyn.
The Mexican-American made history when he beat Anthony Joshua for the unified titles back in 2019, but a loss in the immediate rematch followed by a sustained period of inactivity, broken up briefly with wins over Chris Arreola and Luis Ortiz, has seen his campaign stagnate.
Following shoulder surgery last year, Ruiz is finally ready to lace up the gloves once more, hoping to get back into title contention in the future. His only crack at a belt before the ‘AJ’ bout was against Joseph Parker, the pair battling it out for the vacant WBO with Parker taking it on points. He himself would later lose it to Joshua.
Speaking on DAZN about the fight, Parker struggled to break the fight down given his former opponent’s inactivity.
“It’s tough to see where Andy Ruiz is at the moment, being not active. Jarrell Miller is coming off obviously a loss to Dubois but he got those rounds in. Quite interested to see what Andy still has. Listen, he’s a very talented fighter. Very fast and throws a lot of punches, but he’s been very inactive.”
Ultimately, Parker is backing Ruiz to beat Miller, who lost to Daniel Dubois in December of last year by final round stoppage.
“I would have to go with Andy Ruiz to beat Jarrell Miller. I know Miller’s been more active, but I’ll stick with Ruiz.”
Ruiz and Miller fight on the undercard of Terence Crawford’s bid to become a four-weight world champion against Israil Madrimov on August 3, also joined by another intriguing heavyweight bout in Jared Anderson versus Martin Bakole.
