Andy Ruiz Jr has been working as hard on his boxing as he has trying to talk himself into a big fight but, as of yet, he hasn’t managed it and has instead had to reject a call out from a former champion saying, ‘I can’t go backwards.’
Much of this year for former unified WBA, WBO and IBF world heavyweight champion Ruiz Jr has been dominated by talk of him facing Deontay Wilder. Initially, it was a mandated fight by the WBC but that was rescinded and since then there has been plenty of verbal back and forth but ultimately no contracts have been signed.
Now, Ruiz Jr has been called out by Charles Martin, the former IBF world champion who has recently fought and lost to the likes of Jared Anderson, Luis Ortiz and Gerald Washington.
Speaking to FightHype, Ruiz Jr, who was last out with a win over Luis Ortiz in September 2022, dismissed the challenge.
“I see Charles Martin trying to call me out saying, ‘I want to beat that fat boy’ but come on, man, I can’t go backwards.”
The Mexican then explained why he thinks he is already too far past a fight with Martin, referring to his historic upset win over Anthony Joshua who won his first world title, the IBF belt, off Charles Martin back in 2016.
“I beat the boy that beat you. There’s no point. I need to get somebody else. Somebody that’s going to be good for me. I beat your ass in sparring, with one hand.”
Instead, ‘The Destroyer’ has named the three fighters he would be more keen to face.
