By: Sean Crose
As a whole, the Tyson Fury-Deontay Wilder franchise is pretty interesting when the heavyweights play out. It may not be Ali-Frazier, but what is? I might lose a bit of heat on this, but I would argue it’s probably up there with (or just behind) the Ali-Norton or Bowe-Holyfield trio. After all, there are a lot of exciting moments in Fury-Wilder fights. And while Fury made it pretty clear in the third and final bout who was better in the ring, I personally wouldn’t mind seeing the two men go head to head again. Hey, if Juan Manuel Marquez could have thrown the perfect knockdown punch at Manny Pacquiao ten years ago, who knows what might have happened if Fury-Wilder 4 had come to fruition?
However, maybe I’m getting ahead of myself. As for the WBC that is said to be on the verge of ordering Wilder to face Andy Ruiz in a world title elimination match to determine who is lined up to fight Fury… and there is no guarantee former WBC title Wilder will beat former IBC, WBA and WBO titles Ruiz. Truth be told, Wilder-Ruiz would be a good matchup, one that serious fans will definitely be watching to see.
WBC honcho Mauricio Sulaiman quoted by Marca like saying: “At the congress (WBC), all the final disqualified people will be sorted, including Ruiz-Wilder.” Seeing how the conference will unfold next week in Mexico, it’s clear that things will soon become official. “Andy Ruiz is a boxer of great variety,” added Sulaiman. “He is a beastly puncher. But the style that makes up the fights, ‘Terminator’ is so much shorter than Wilder, it can be complicated for him. Ruiz stunned a lot of people when he stopped behind WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight Anthony Joshua in 2019. However, Joshua returned six months later, and easily handled Ruiz’s loss of form in rematch, then regain the championship belt. .
Now both Wilder and Ruiz are on the title hunt once again. Ruiz has been in better form and won over Luis Ortiz and Chris Arreola since returning to the ring in May 2021. Meanwhile, Wilder returned to the ring last weekend and took down opponents. longtime goalkeeper Robert Helenius with just one shot. It’s purely a return statement. With another rift in Fury on the horizon, it’s unlikely Wilder will be eager to overtake Ruiz. Then again, Ruiz has a drive of his own… and he’s proven that he’s not the man to sleep in.
