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Earlier this year, Andy Ruiz Jr. was tapped to replace Jarrell Miller after the latter failed multiple PED tests ahead of his fight against Anthony Joshua, who went into their heavyweight bout boasting a 22-0 record and four title belts to his name.
Virtually no one expected Ruiz Jr. to put up much of a fight (he was initially listed as a 30/1 underdog), but when everything was said and done, he managed to shock the world by scoring a TKO in the seventh round in what was one of the most surprising upsets the boxing world has ever seen.
The rest of the world immediately fell in love with the chunky fighter—who made some of his family members a hefty chunk of change thanks to his victory—and he unsurprisingly decided to get his party on to celebrate his unlikely win.
Ruiz Jr. made some waves last week when he weighed in at 283 pounds ahead of his rematch with Joshua in Saudi Arabia on Saturday (he was listed at 268 prior to their first matchup) and it didn’t appear the extra weight did him any favors, as Joshua reclaimed his titles after winning by unanimous decision.
After the loss, Ruiz Jr. addressed the weight gain and acknowledged he was more concerned with partying his ass off than training, saying:
“I should have trained harder. I should have listened to my team and coaches. For this fight I was overweight. I didn’t move how I wanted to…
“I put on the weight and it was my mistake. No-one knows about the training we had. We did the best we can. Being a champion for the first time, being over here and there and missing training, it was hard…
There’s no excuses. The partying got the best of me. The next fight is going to be a lot different.”
According to Sporting News, trainer Manny Robles wasn’t exactly thrilled with his boxer and threw some shade his way when asked about how things played out:
“We had the time, we had the sparring, the proper sparring, I believe, but it’s up to the fighter. It’s definitely up to the fighter…
I don’t think I lost the connection with my fighter, I just think it’s more him, it’s more the individual. The individual has to be disciplined, you got to be hungry. I can’t want it more than him. He’s got to want it.”
Based on how much weight Ruiz Jr. will probably have to lose before his next fight, I don’t know if “hungry” was the best word to use there but I’m sure the scales will be slightly less tipped the next time he steps on the scale before a bout.
[BBC]