By: Hans Themistode
Andy Ruiz Jr is getting up and roaring to get back into the ring. With a renewed desire to reclaim his heavyweight world title, the Mexican-born player ended his long spell on the sidelines recently, taking a unanimous decision against Chris Arreola in May 2021.
As the 32-year-old prepares for another run, Ruiz Jr leaves the selection of opponents to his immortal fans.
“Who should I fight next?” Asked Ruiz Jr. on his social media accounts.
As the comments began to flood in, Derek Chisora began to join in with a suggestion of his own.
“Want to go to London?” Chisora replied.
While it seemed fun and gamey at first, promoter Eddie Hearn was intrigued by the whole challenge. In fact, Hearn not only finds the showdown between the two heavyweights an intriguing one, but he recently revealed he’s taken it a step further.
“I want Chisora to fight Andy Ruiz,” Hearn said live on Instagram. “I made an offer to PBC for that fight on Friday, they wanted more money, get it.”
If all goes well, a showdown between Ruiz Jr and Chisora is expected to see the two boxers currently going in opposite directions. As mentioned earlier, Ruiz Jr is looking to build on his one-way win over Arreola. Chisora, on the other hand, has failed to score a single win since a fourth-minute stoppage-time win over David Price in 2019.
However, despite its brief appearance over the past few years, Chisora has faced a heavy crop failure. In 2020, Chisora tries to slow the hype train of current unified heavyweight champion, Oleksandr Usyk. While he did his best to get the packed Usyk home, the English-born player received a decisive defeat almost unanimously.
After the match against Usyk, Chisora fought against the title-winner, Joseph Parker. In the end, Parked suffered two more defeats against the Chisora.
In the end, while he doesn’t often come to a winning ending late, Hearn reiterated that the match between Chisora and Ruiz Jr was one he desperately wanted.
“I want Chisora to fight Andy Ruiz. I think it was a great fight.”
