Andy Ruiz Jr. is prepared to step in the ring a few more times before calling it quits. The former unified heavyweight champion has fought just three times since his rematch loss to Anthony Joshua in 2019.
‘Destroyer’ is 2-0-1 since that fight, averaging less than one fight per year, and last fighting in August 2024. Despite this, he insists he’ll be sticking around for a few more years to fight the top names of the heavyweight division.
‘I’m still fresh,’ Ruiz Jr. eyes top heavyweight opponents for next fight
Fast approaching 37 years old — twilight years for a professional boxer — Ruiz outlined his retirement plans.
“I think two, three more years,” Ruiz Jr. told Vegas Insider. “I want to fight these big guys that I’ve been wanting to fight since the beginning.
“So two or three more years. You have to remember, I’m still fresh as well. I haven’t been in crazy wars. I haven’t been knocked out or dropped.
“I’ve been dropped by Anthony Joshua. But I’m still fresh – resting, relaxing and kicking back.”
The heavyweight division has shifted since Ruiz Jr. was king. Oleksandr Usyk reigns undisputed, and names like Fabio Wardley, Agit Kabayel, and Moses Itauma are quickly turning the middle ranks into a heavyweight shark tank. Ruiz would like a steady return to the ranks, but he doesn’t want to call it a tune-up fight.
“[…] You know, I want to test the waters again and I don’t wanna say a tune-up fight because every person is dangerous inside that ring.
“But I do wanna get a few fights in and then get a big fight with one of these guys, since I haven’t fought in a while. So that’s exactly why we’re training hard.“
Ruiz Jr. believes Moses Itauma has a high ceiling in heavyweight boxing
One of these ‘guys’ could well be Itauma, a fierce British heavyweight who has stormed the top ranks by the age of 21. The heavy-handed Brit handed Jermaine Franklin his first knockout loss earlier this year and demolished Dillian Whyte before that. Ruiz thinks Itauma is “a little dangerous” for anybody to fight.
“… He is still a young fighter, and strong,” Ruiz said. “I think in a few years he’s gonna be one of the top out there because of his ability, his speed, reactions and countering. It would be a little dangerous for anybody to fight him.”
A potential Ruiz vs. Itauma clash would certainly take a few years to come to fruition, but the story is already there. The last time a British heavyweight superstar, Joshua, dared to gamble his fame on American shores, he was sorely defeated by the sturdy Mexican—would Itauma pass the same test?
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