Andy Ruiz Jr. has gone from unified heavyweight champion signed with Al Haymon to facing an unranked absentee away from the bright lights of PBC.
Reports linked “The Destroyer” to facing Deontay Wilder, Joseph Parker, and Luis Ortiz in recent times. In a stunning twist, Ruiz comes back from another long delay against the unheralded Tyrone Spong on July 16.
Given such an extended date must mean Ruiz wasn’t ready to fight and needed to begin a full camp from scratch. Accusations of sporadic training made by Canelo Alvarez are now ringing true.
They resulted in Ruiz leaving Eddy Reynoso to train alone. His career has since taken another nosedive.
Announcing that the Anthony Joshua conqueror would fight Spong at Plaza de Toros in Mexico City, Triller confirmed the details.
In a twist, the information states that Ruiz is back with Reynoso.
“The ten-round main event will headline a tremendous boxing card broadcast on Pay-Per-View,” said Triller before adding that they believe Ruiz and Reynoso are back in unison.
EDDY REYNOSO
“Eddy Reynoso guides the popular fan-favorite Ruiz. The Trainer of the Year counts boxing’s number one Pound-for-Pound Fighter Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and World Champion Oscar Valdez among his stable in San Diego, CA.”
David Tetreault, President of Triller Fight Club, added: “Triller and Fight Club like to trailblaze. We have high expectations for this event.
“It matches the world’s best heavyweights in boxing and MMA in a battle to determine who is the best.
“Surrounding it with a Trillerfest were the best musicians, Verzuz, sports, and celebrity events will bookend this historic fight.”
Whether Ruiz will go through a full camp with Reynoso remains unclear, as all focus will be on Canelo for May 6th.
Canelo faces Dmitry Bivol for the WBA light-heavyweight title in Las Vegas. Ruiz may get more of Reynoso’s attention once that event is in the books.
However, Ruiz will have to knuckle down to remain a permanent part of the Reynoso stable.
Regarding his fight with Spong, the Dutch-Suriname part-time MMA fighter has been out of the boxing ring for almost three years.
He remains undefeated at 14-0. But Spong has a massive stain next to his name due to alleged failed drug tests surrounding a potential fight with Oleksandr Usyk in 2019.
Amazingly, two failed tests reportedly came on either side of a negative one, leading to Spong protesting his innocence.
ANDY RUIZ JR
Now comes Ruiz, who takes a severe step down in his career following a huge Pay Per View collapse with Deontay Wilder and subsequent fights against Ortiz and Parker.
The Parker fight would have been a rematch of his first heavyweight title shot. A fight in which WBN scored in favor of Ruiz in New Zealand.
Ultimately, Parker took a home decision and became the WBO champion. Claiming the unified crown against AJ in 2019 turned his career upwards for about six months before Ruiz then imploded.
He is yet to get back on the boxing horse fully.
The views expressed in this article are the opinions of Phil Jay.
WBN Editor Phil has over ten years of boxing news experience. Follow WBN us on Twitter @WorldBoxingNews.
