Andy Ruiz Jr. continues his long road to a return in 2024, knowing his WBC heavyweight title final eliminator falls under a distant memory.
The former unified world champion underwent surgery for a torn rotator cuff in November after seeing several headlining opportunities scrapped. Several reasons, including Ruiz’s lifestyle, a split from his wife, and a lack of discipline, have hampered his recent career.
A solitary victory over Luiz in almost three years is all Ruiz has to show for a once lofty rating with the World Boxing Council. In September 2022, Ruiz won his second fight since losing his crown to Anthony Joshua in a Saudi Arabia rematch. It seemed all was going well for the first-ever Mexican top-division ruler.
However, the two main protagonists in a WBC-ordered final eliminator weren’t playing ball. Ruiz couldn’t nail number one-rated Deontay Wilder down to significant negotational conclusions despite both being with Premier Boxing Champions. Al Haymon wanted the fight between March and Cinco de Mayo weekend 2023 in Las Vegas. But even the PBC boss couldn’t get the pair to agree terms.
Wilder wanted Joshua or a fourth fight with Tyson Fury for significantly more money than Haymon put on the table. The Ruiz fight didn’t hold priority to keep “The Bronze Bomber” interested.
Andy Ruiz Jr in fall from grace
Ruiz then hit a turbulent time in his personal life and could not fight for some months. The Tuscaloosa puncher subsequently signed to face Joseph Parker and lost. Ruiz suffered a severe injury in training, and the WBC astonishingly banished him from its ratings in November 2023.
No reason came from the WBC, but social media videos of Ruiz linked to IV drips and cannabis wouldn’t have helped. He also wouldn’t have renewed his WBC Clean Boxing Program paperwork due to impending surgery. The WBC stipulates handing in the CBP forms is a must for anyone ranked in the top fifteen.
Ruiz is rated eleven with the WBO, an organization with whom he’s enjoyed a long affiliation. However, the IBF and WBA both followed the WBC in dropping Ruiz.
The fall from grace was swift and brutal. One year earlier, Ruiz was ranked number two behind Wilder. If they had gotten the fight over the line when prompted by the WBC and when fit and healthy, the fight would be in the books by now. In a harsh twist, the winner would currently be mandatory for Fury.
WBC heavyweight eliminator
Instead, the WBC is about to make a new final eliminator public. The match-up will see number-two-rated Frank Sanchez face Agit Kabayel, ironically two of the victors from the mega-card Wilder fought on against Parker.
The fact Wilder went down so poorly via decision against Parker means he’s no longer in a position to land a fourth installment with Fury. Any resurrection of that saga, which was planned at one stage – exclusively revealed by World Boxing News, is dead in the water.
Sanchez and Kabayel will likely collide in Saudi Arabia this spring, leaving both Ruiz and Wilder in the cold. The whole scenario is a massive fall from grace, especially for Ruiz, who would have to try to entice Wilder to face him again to hold any future consideration with the WBC.
As they say, a year in boxing can be a lifetime. Just twelve months ago, Wilder vs Ruiz was the biggest non-title heavyweight fight in the sport. Today, it would be a comeback clash for two ex-champions attempting to resurrect their careers.
Phil Jay is an experienced boxing news writer and has been the Editor of World Boxing News since 2010.
