Former heavyweight world champion Andy Ruiz breaks a near two-year layoff when he collides with Jarrell Miller on the Terence Crawford vs. Israil Madrimov undercard next weekend in Los Angeles.
Ruiz (35-2, 22 KOs) endured some unfavorable media spotlight while his history-making moment against Anthony Joshua became a distant memory. The Mexican-American 34-year-old bounced back from losing his IBF, WBA, and WBO belts in a rematch with Joshua with victories over Chris Arreola and Luis Ortiz 14 months apart. The victory over Arreola was far less convincing than the unanimous decision win against Ortiz.
“Andy is a real wild card,” Sean Gibbons, Ruiz’s advisor, said in an exclusive interview for FightsATW. “Riyadh Season have worked with nearly every heavyweight out here except Andy Ruiz due to injuries and personal problems. I like to tell people that a healthy and mentally ready Andy Ruiz is a scary Andy Ruiz. I think he’s going to pound Jarrell, who looks in tremendous shape, but Andy’s foot and hand speed will make him look really good. Then we will beat Jarrell, look good, and move onto a heavyweight world title or rematch with [Joseph] Parker for a title on the Tyson Fury-Oleksandr Usyk [2] undercard.”
Miller (26-1-1, 22 KOs) stands in Ruiz’s path toward the new riches pouring into the heavyweight division from Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Season. The New Yorker comes off a career first defeat to England’s Daniel Dubois, succumbing to a 10th-round stoppage last December in Riyadh. Boxing’s premier weight class is in a different world since Ruiz unexpectedly knocked out Joshua at Madison Square Garden over five years ago. “With heavyweights, it’s one punch from the penthouse to the outhouse,” Gibbons added. “Andy and Jarrell? It’s what people like. Jarrell talks the talk, and Andy is Andy. He’s coming off injuries and personal issues, but he’s back now and he’s healthy. It’s a fun fight.
“There are a lot of things that people don’t realize with Andy; he was getting out of a very rough relationship, so mentally, he was just a mess. The real problem was that he had a torn rotator cuff! He had surgery on it, but that’s why he’s been out of the ring for the last six months to a year. He’s really ready to go, finally! He looks better now than when he beat Anthony Joshua and all those other guys. Physically, and with his weight and everything he looks better than I have seen. I think he’s going to be a real surprise still.”
Ruiz challenged Parker for the vacant WBO heavyweight world title in a closely fought majority-decision loss nearly eight years ago in Auckland, New Zealand. Parker would lose his belt to Anthony Joshua following defenses against Razvan Cojanu and Hughie Fury. The 32-year-old Kiwi upset the Saudi heavyweight applecart with a wide decision win over Deontay Wilder last December, followed by twice climbing off the canvas to claim a close victory over Zhilei Zhang this past March.
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