When Andy Ruiz Jr returns to the ring on Saturday night he will be a very different heavyweight to the one we last saw in December 2019.
Then ‘The Destroyer’ was a flabby 283lbs as he gave back the world heavyweight titles he had taken from Anthony Joshua just six months earlier.
Some 15lbs heavier than he had been for their historic first meeting in Madison Square Garden, the 31-year-old from Imperial, California had clearly enjoyed the fruits of being world heavyweight champion a little too much.
Things got even worse in the immediate aftermath of that defeat in Saudi Arabia - Ruiz ballooned to 310lbs. He needed to rekindle his love for the sport, and he needed focus.
Ruiz needed focus
That focus came when he reached out to P4P king Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and subsequently joined the Mexican megastar in the stable of trainer-of-the-moment Eddy Reynoso.
Working alongside the likes of ‘Canelo’ and lightweight sensation Ryan Garcia, Andy (33-2) has slimmed down to around 255lbs and is in better shape than ever.
He is loving the hard work which goes with learning under Reynoso, and excited to return against fellow Cali heavyweight Chris Arreola on a FOX PPV show in Carson on Saturday night.
“The Mexican style is a big drama show. We don’t like to give up. We go in there, we’re bleeding but we’re still fighting to the death. We’re not scared of any other fighter. We like to bang, you know.
“There is a different style in Mexican boxing. We come forward. We get hit but we give back. At the Canelo gym we try to perfect every single thing we do.”
“We try to bob and weave a lot, we try to counter-punch a lot. It’s lot of different ways that we change the Mexican style of boxing.”
There is genuine relish in the way Ruiz Jr talks about the change in his mindset and work ethic since he joined up with Reynoso and ‘Canelo’. It is all with one thing in mind - regaining the world heavyweight titles he gave away so feebly in December 2019.
“My last fight I did not do the things I was supposed to do. So now that I made a change in my life, this is a new beginning for me.”
Ruiz and his opponent on Saturday - the 40-year-old Arreola (38-6-1) - are tied by one thing. Their desire to become the first Mexican world heavyweight champion. A goal that Arreola was once tipped to achieve, one that Ruiz eventually did.
Arreola failed three times in challenges for what is often termed the biggest prize in professional sport. But even now, into his 40s, trainer Joe Goossen believes he still has plenty to offer.
“Chris is a veteran, he’s a warrior, he’s a game player. So when he goes in the ring on fight night, the switch goes on and he’s gonna fight you.
“You’ve gotta work for it. He’s working harder, he’s training longer - a lot of heavy bag work, a lot of mitts, a lot of shadow boxing, a lot of sparring.
“Bottom line, if they’re in the best shape that they’ve both been in for a quite a while, it’s gonna be fireworks.”
Despite the positive noises from the Arreola camp, Ruiz is a heavy favourite at 1/25 with Sky Bet, while Chris is a 17/2 underdog. ‘The Nightmare’ though believes he can outperform those odds.
“It’s gonna be non-stop, rock ‘em sock ‘em Mexican fighters giving their all to win a fight.”
There is good news for UK fans hoping to watch Ruiz vs Arreola on Saturday night. The bout will be screened by BoxNation on the Premier Sports platform.
