Andy Ruiz Jr is fresh off of his win over Luis Ortiz back on Sunday, and the former unified heavyweight world champion is already looking forward to his next encounter in the squared circle and has his gaze set on Deontay Wilder.
The 12-round unanimous decision victory over Ortiz at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles marked Ruiz’s second straight victory since his loss to Anthony Joshua in the rematch back in 2019 December. In May last year, Ruiz dominated Chris Arreola via another 12-round unanimous decision.
One of the attendees at Ruiz’s victory over Ortiz was the former WBC heavyweight champ Deontay Wilder himself, who is returning to the ring next month against Robert Helenius, on 15th October in Brooklyn- his first fight since losing to Tyson Fury in their trilogy last year.
Speaking to Heidi Androl of Fox Sports after his win, Ruiz expressed his eagerness to take on the ‘Bronze Bomber’ provided that he wins against Helenius. As both Ruiz and Wilder are linked to Premier Boxing Champions (PBC), ‘The Destroyer’ is looking forward to its founder Al Haymon to make the fight a possibility.
“God willing, he wins (against) Robert in October, me and him are in the same organization,” said Ruiz, “I want to thank Al Haymon. He can make this fight happen. Let’s do it.” [H/T BoxingScene.com]
Andy Ruiz Jr feels his weight gave him the advantage over Ortiz
Despite the close contest between the two, Ruiz had dropped Ortiz thrice before going the distance and speaking to BoxingScene.com and other reporters following the bout, said that weighing in at 268 ¾ pounds worked in his favour.
“The main advantage was the weight I put on, he wasn’t able to drop me. I felt if I was 250-something, it would have been a fight of him dropping me, and me dropping him,” the 32-year-old asserted, “I felt strong, I felt explosive. I was a bit too cautious. He hits hard so I had to be smart.”
While admitting that Ortiz’s punches packed power, Ruiz also mentioned his former foe, Anthony Joshua, to be another hard hitter as well.
“They both hit hard,” noted Ruiz, “Anthony Joshua hit me with a shot I didn’t see coming and it put me down. With Luis Ortiz, I was more cautious. He threw a left hand that I saw coming, it hit me and I was like ‘Damn’. They both hit hard. They all f——’ hit hard.”
