Andy Ruiz Jr remains confident that he will be in the ring with Deontay Wilder this year – a fight that would determine the WBC’s number one ranked contender.
The two former titlists were ordered to face off last November, but very little movement came for months. That changed at the start of summer as negotiations began alongside public call outs.
Unfortunately for fans – who have been so far deprived of a very intriguing heavyweight match-up – things have slowed down once more.
Ruiz believes there’s hope yet – in fact, he told Marq Nash TV that it would happen soon.
“We’re negotiating right now, man. It’s gonna happen, it’s gonna happen soon.”
The sticking point, as declared publicly, is money. Ruiz Jr’s father said that his son was being lowballed by an offer for 30% of the purse. Asked if he was looking for a 50/50 split, Ruiz said he wanted it to be ‘fair.’
“At least. I just want it to be fair. I don’t want nobody trying to rip me off or anything like this. It’s not really about the money, but we don’t want to take nothing less, you know?”
Ruiz was briefly unified champion after a shock victory over Anthony Joshua – a result he wasn’t able to repeat in the immediate rematch.
Wilder’s stint as top dog lasted much longer. He was WBC champ for almost half a decade before Tyson Fury returned from retirement and relieved him of the belt during a thrilling trilogy.
Despite the confidence of Ruiz, fans have watched the fight talks falter for some time now and likely won’t buy into anything until an official announcement.
With Wilder’s pencilled-in bout with Anthony Joshua expected for January 2024, the door is rapidly closing on him to get active in the next few months.