Posted on 11/11/2021
By: Hans Themistode
The momentum swings were enough to keep Andy Ruiz Jr. on the edge of his seat.
On October 9th, at the T-Mobile Arena, in Las Vegas, Nevada, both Tyson Fury, and Deontay Wilder squared off for the third and presumably final time in their respective careers. In the early goings, it appeared to be all Fury as he registered a knockdown in the third. Then, in the blink of an eye, Wilder stormed back, scoring two knockdowns of his own in the four.
Though they would fight on fairly even terms for the remainder of their contest, Fury finished their encounter strong, stopping Wilder in the 11th round. With such a grueling showdown, both men will look to take a long and needed break from the sport.
While Fury appears to be heading towards a matchup against perennial contender Dillian Whyte sometime in 2022, Wilder’s future is still very much up in the air.
As for Ruiz Jr., the former unified heavyweight champion is still on the comeback trail. Since dropping his world titles to Anthony Joshua in December of 2019, six months after causing the monumental upset against the British native, Ruiz Jr. returned to the ring against fringe contender Chris Arreola.
Despite being a huge favorite, Ruiz Jr. was forced to peel himself up off the deck before nabbing the unanimous decision win. Since then, the 31-year-old was hoping to return to the ring at the back end of 2021. However, those plans were scrapped due to the former heavyweight titlist undergoing right knee surgery.
With one eye closely on both Fury and newly crowned champion, Oleksandr Usyk, Ruiz Jr. is well aware that he’s still a few fights away from challenging for another world title. Although names such as Luis Ortiz and Charles Martin are intriguing options for the Mexican native, he appears to be locked in on a future showdown against Wilder.
“I think that would be an amazing fight, me against Deontay Wilder,” said Ruiz Jr. during an interview with Brian Custer on The Last Stand Podcast. “We’re both a part of the same team you know. I wouldn’t mind getting into the ring with him. I feel like I can beat him. We gotta get it on.”