Former IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz Jr. has been given a golden opportunity to reignite his career by His Excellency Turki Alalshikh against Jarrell Miller on August 3rd at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles.
A Golden Opportunity for Ruiz
The soon-to-be 35-year-old Ruiz (35-2, 22 KOs) will be coming off a 23-month layoff when he takes on ‘Big Baby’ Miller (26-1-1, 22 KOs) on the undercard of Terence Crawford vs. Israil Madrimov in an event that will reportedly be shown on DAZN.
Ruiz’s activity since 2019:
- Luis Ortiz: 43
- Chris Arreola: 40-years-old
It’s the last chance saloon for Andy Ruiz in this fight because if he loses to Miller, he might as well pack it. Ruiz’s hopeless goal is to get a trilogy match against Anthony Joshua, but he can forget about that if he gets beaten by Miller.
Ruiz will be fighting for just the third time since losing his three titles to Joshua in December 2019, and it’s hard to believe that the ‘Destroyer’ Andy has fought so few times.
Given the inactivity, it’s difficult to predict how Ruiz will perform against the 35-year-old Jarrell Miller, who looked good at times in a tenth-round knockout loss to Daniel Dubois on December 23rd, 2023, in Riyadh.
‘Big Baby’ Miller: Hungry for Success
Miller weighed in at 333 lbs for the weigh-in for the Dubois contest but gave the younger fighter problems in the first half of the contest before gassing out.
Ruiz hasn’t fought since his fight against Luis Ortiz on September 4th, 2022, and he performed well in that fight. Although Ruiz won by a twelve-round unanimous decision, the 43-year-old Ortiz hit him a lot and outboxed him throughout much of the contest.
Ruiz’s nearly two years out of the ring since the Luis Ortiz fight could make things difficult for him against ‘Big Baby’ Miller. Miller has a high work rate and will be looking to pull off a victory so he can continue to get well-paying gigs on His Excellency Turki Alalshikh’s cards.
Andy Ruiz’s Faded Glory
The Southern California native Ruiz failed to fully take advantage of the fame he got from his upset seventh-round knockout of Joshua in June 2019. He could have made a goldmine from that victory if he’d stayed active, fighting three times a year.
Some fans believe the $10 million that Ruiz earned from his two fights against Joshua took away his hunger, robbing him of the ambition to continue working hard, fighting often, and adding to his fortune.
Ruiz could have arguably doubled the money he’d continued working, but unfortunately, he fell into a life of leisure, enjoying his huge windfall.
𝗥𝗨𝗜𝗭 𝗜𝗦 𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞 🥊💥
Riyadh Season Card featuring Crawford vs. Madrimov.#RuizMiller | @Turki_alalshikh
📽️ via Andy Ruiz pic.twitter.com/RcyeeSfenu
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) June 11, 2024
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