A battle between two former heavyweight champions could be on the horizon.
Andy Ruiz Jr. is open to fighting Deontay Wilder, he told The Last Stand with Brian Custer.
“Yes, I do, and I think that would be an amazing fight,” said Ruiz in regard to a future fight. “We’re both part of the same team [with Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions], and it’s all business. I wouldn’t mind getting in the ring with him, and I feel I could beat him. We got to get it on.”
Ruiz (34-2, 22 KOs) and Wilder (42-2-1, 41 KOs) both held all of the championship belts from June to December 2019. Ruiz collected the WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO titles after shockingly knocking out Anthony Joshua, but he failed to defend the titles six months later against Joshua.
Wilder was the WBC champion from January 2015 till February 2020, when he lost his belt to Tyson Fury via knockout. Wilder suffered the same fate last month against Fury in the trilogy.
“I thought that was an awesome fight. They were going back and forth, and I didn’t know who was going to win,” said Ruiz. “Deontay, he has the heart of a lion. He doesn’t want to give up, and he kept coming. He kept getting up, falling down, and getting up. It wasn’t an amazing fight. Hats off to Tyson Fury. He did his thing.”
When Ruiz was asked if Fury is the best heavyweight fighter in the world at the moment, the Mexican star said, “I agree with that.”
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, via email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or on www.ManoukAkopyan.com