Andy Ruiz Jr. views his fight against Jarrell Miller on Saturday night as a clash that will boost him toward becoming a two-time heavyweight champion of the world.
(Photo credit: Mark Robinson Matchroom Boxing)
A Career At Stake
If Ruiz, 34, loses this fight on Saturday night, it could end his career. He’ll keep fighting; a defeat against Miller would transform him into a lower gatekeeper type of fighter, which he already is.
Ruiz (35-2, 22 KOs) says he’s driving for a trilogy match against Anthony Joshua, who beat him by a lopsided twelve-round unanimous decision on December 7, 2019, in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia.
The defeat led to Ruiz’s downward spiral in his career, with him rarely fighting for the next five years, leading to Saturday’s comeback fight against Jarrell Miller (26-1-1, 22 KOs) at the BMO Stadium in Riyadh.
“A long time ago, I wanted to fight him. Without him, I wouldn’t have had this opportunity against Anthony Joshua. So, there’s no hate, there’s no nothing. I just got to do my best,” said Andy Ruiz Jr. to Pro Boxing Fans about his fight against Jarrell Miller on Saturday night.
Without His Excellency Turki Alalshikh’s giving the 34-year-old Ruiz this opportunity, he would likely be at home, not fighting, and living his daily life in his mansion in the hills of Southern California.
Miller is a good start for Ruiz if he’s interested in working his way back to a world-title opportunity. But he’s going to have to beat someone near the top if he wants a world title shot, and that’s likely one of these names:
– Jared Anderson
– Filip Hrgovic
– Martin Bakole
The good news for Ruiz is that the heavyweight division is very weak right now, and he might only need to beat a couple of top-five names to get another chance to fight for a world title belt.
Miller: A Formidable Obstacle
Unfortunately, Ruiz’s inactivity, age, lack of ambition, and poor conditioning make it unlikely he’ll beat anyone good enough to fight for a world title. If Ruiz disappears for another two-year layoff after his fight with Miller, he can forget about his dreams of a title shot or trilogy match against Joshua.
“That’s the mission, but the only thing I predict is me getting that win. I feel good after the long layoff. There are a lot of things I have to prove, not just to myself but to my fans and to my loved ones.
“For me to become a two-time heavyweight champion of the world, I’ve got to eliminate Jarrell Miller, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do on August 3rd,” Ruiz continued.
Ruiz’s Dream of a Joshua Trilogy
“If you become champion, make sure you become disciplined and focused because anything can happen. The AJ trilogy because I still want that fight,” said Ruiz. “I defeated him and he beat me. But he made me with me not being at 100% or not even at 50%,” said Ruiz when asked who he would prefer to fight between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury. “He boxed around.”
Ruiz appeared close to 75% when he fought Joshua the second time. The difference was that Joshua moved around the ring, jabbing and holding Ruiz to keep from getting hit. AJ took advantage of Ruiz’s short legs and terrible mobility.
Ruiz cannot cut off the ring against moving fighters, even in top shape. Joseph Parker initially exposed that flaw in Ruiz’s game, and Joshua took advantage of it in his rematch with Andy.
It was a style that would have worked for Joshua had he used it in his first fight with Ruiz, but he made the mistake of throwing combinations and got clipped by a left hook in the third.
It’s understandable why Ruiz is so eager to fight Joshua again. The money Ruiz can make fighting Joshua again would help refill his bank account quite nicely. No one else can Ruiz fight to make the kind of dough that a fight with Joshua would pay.
Ruiz made $10 million from his two fights against AJ, and the windfall changed his life for the better and the worse. It took away his ambition, and he hasn’t shown much motivation to fight regular contenders to fight his way back to the top. In other words, Ruiz wanted the Joshua trilogy without earning it, which some would suggest was a sign of laziness and aversion to hard work to strive for his goal.
“I just want to win on August 3rd. Jarrell Miller is in front of me, and that’s the only thing I’m thinking about right now. I’ve got to get this victory, and we can call out other fighters after,” said Ruiz.
Miller’s Motivation
Ruiz must stay dialed in for his fight against Miller, 36, because this fighter views him as his way to the top for bigger fights. Miller needs this victory even more than Ruiz because he’s not a former world champion, and he doesn’t have the luxury of using his popularity in Southern California to motivate a superstar like Joshua or Tyson Fury to fight him.
Miller must beat Ruiz, look great, and then defeat one or two other top-tier heavyweights for a possible fight against Joshua, Fury, or Oleksandr Usyk.
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