Andy Ruiz Jr has cast doubt on his fight with Deontay Wilder, saying that he believes the American former champion wants to chase the belts he’s never had his hands on, rather than his previously-owned WBC title.
This week, the World Boxing Council made a final eliminator between Wilder and Ruiz official, although it had been all but confirmed beforehand by both the sanctioning body and the fighters themselves. The matchup presents a fascinating clash of styles
With both men former heavyweight champions and now on successful comeback trails, most fans agree that the bout is one of the best the division has to offer. Despite that, Ruiz feels that his potential foe may want to do pursue another route. He told Fight Hub TV why.
“No we’re still waiting for him to agree. Yeah [it’s close] but I think he wants to fight [Oleksandr] Usyk. I don’t think he wants the WBC belt no more. I think he wants to conquer all the other belts, you know?
I want to conquer the WBC belt. That’s the belt that I’m missing so that’s what I’m gonna work on.”
Given that the interview was filmed before the WBC’s official ordering of the bout, it’s unclear if that might change Wilder’s views, or if Ruiz was even correct in the first place. Wilder’s coach, Malik Scott, did echo the Mexican’s thoughts recently, though – saying that he preferred big scraps for his fighter like Usyk or Anthony Joshua.
Now that the ruling for the final eliminator has been made, the fighters will be expected to enter negotiations for the fight. Given that both are represented by PBC, no hurdles are foreseen there, so should it not go ahead, it looks like it will be down to ‘The Bronze Bomber.’
Either way, it doesn’t seem we have long to wait.