Skip to content
Home » Four-man shortlist revealed for Andy Ruiz Jr. before retirement

Four-man shortlist revealed for Andy Ruiz Jr. before retirement

  • by
  • 3 min read

Andy Ruiz Jr. wants to fight a quadrilogy of top stars before walking into the sunset as a former unified heavyweight champion.

Ruiz has just turned 33 and has three or four years left in professional boxing, according to his father.

“The Destroyer” has four rivals he wants to face in high-profile bouts before retirement. He then wants a dream goodbye fight at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico.

Andy Ruiz Sr. has discussed things with his offspring to develop a retirement plan. It comes after the Los Angeles-based puncher knows his top-level days are numbered after a unanimous decision win over Luis Ortiz.

Facing some of the names Ruiz has in his sights doesn’t make for a prolonged career from now until the end.

Ruiz Sr. says it’s only the most humungous battles that interest his son, with Deontay Wilder already in the pipeline for 2023.

Who does Andy Ruiz Jr. want to fight before retirement?

“He has important fights to make and already knows the rivals he wants,” Ruiz Sr. told IZQUIERDAZO.

“Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder, Anthony Joshua, and [WBO, WBA, and IBF] ruler Oleksandr Usyk. Andy has good fights left,” he added.

It’s a solid selection if they can be pulled off. As WBN already mentioned, Wilder is set to happen in the first quarter of next year.

Both men were involved in a four-person WBC eliminator tournament. Ruiz did his part against Ortiz on Sunday, September 4.

The Mexican-American southpaw defeated the Cuban, nicknamed “King Kong,” to move on to the final eliminator.

Deontay Wilder PPV

Whoever wins from Wilder vs Robert Helenius on October 15 will join Ruiz in a Premier Boxing Champions Pay Per View clash.

With Wilder in his future, Ruiz Sr. sees his son facing the current world title holder and former foe AJ.

“Fury, the trilogy with Joshua, Usyk, Wilder, and retiring with those fights. That’s what we want to do. I tell him they are the fights he has to do, nothing more, and that’s it.

“And make a last one in Mexico. He agrees with me, with the decision that I tell him.”

Ruiz defeated Joshua in June 2019 at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Scoring multiple knockdowns, Ruiz shocked the world by having his hands raised as the winner in the sixth round.

He lost the belts six months later in a December rematch in Saudi Arabia when the fighter admitted he was out of shape.

Andy Ruiz Jr in Mexico

Having missed out on fighting in Mexico last June due to a contract with PBC, Ruiz wants to finish his career on sacred ground.

“We want to fight in Mexico,” said Sr. “Make one [huge event] in the Plaza de Toros bullring or in the Azteca Stadium to retire. I want to do it in the Azteca.”

Dillian Whyte, a British heavyweight opponent, was mentioned as a possible alternative.

“In case one of them doesn’t want to fight, we want to take Dillian Whyte,” he concluded. “In Mexico, it would be a good fight.”

Follow WBN on Facebook @officialworldboxingnews, Instagram, and Twitter @worldboxingnews.