It's been a long time since there has been news of former world heavyweight champion Andy "Chubby" Ruiz Jr., who has been absent for all of 2023 and underwent elbow surgery last November, and everything looks bleak, although Ruiz has said that he will return to the ring in April this year, but now that it's April, what is Ruiz doing?
Many people have been frustrated by Ruiz's decadent form and urged him to make a difference and not waste his talent, including Ruiz's former coach Manny Robles, who criticized Ruiz in his latest interview this week, hoping that he can get back on track.
Robles helped Ruiz finish Anthony Joshua in June 2019 and became the heavyweight champion, but unfortunately after the success, Ruiz got carried away and didn't put his mind on boxing at all, so that half a year later, he suffered a points defeat in the rematch with Joshua and became a short-lived champion in his division.
After the defeat, Ruiz, who had nowhere to vent his anger except for self-examination, fired coach Robles. In this regard, Robles played the role of the backstabber at first, but later he saw that Ruiz was too inauthentic, so he broke a lot of fierce news, which made Ruiz embarrassed, and the relationship between the two was completely stiff.
Despite the huge unhappiness between Robles and Ruiz, the rift will not heal, presumably because of the old mentorship, Robles hopes that Ruiz can try to return to the top, and he advises Ruiz, like other famous heavyweights, to seek to fight in Saudi Arabia.
Robles said: "Ruiz should be looking for a place in the Saudi team, he can do it! But where is Ruiz now? That's a problem, I haven't spoken to him in years, I haven't seen him, I don't know what the hell Ruiz is up to, but he should come back to boxing as soon as possible and try to be part of the Saudi Arabian team." ”
Many people feel that Ruiz, who has become a multimillionaire through the two encounters with Joshua, has lost his enthusiasm for training and competing, so he is in a state of confusion. Rob admits that while the magic of money will make you satisfied, for Ruiz, it's a waste of talent.
"I've always thought Ruiz is more talented than most people, and a loss shouldn't determine a fighter's career, and I've never thought Ruiz needs to judge something by wins or losses," Robles said. Ruiz should come back, the initiative is in his own hands, and I hope that in a few years, Ruiz will not be upset by what he is doing today. ”
Ruiz has only played a pitiful 2 matches in the following nearly 5 years since he completed his two competitions with Joshua, but for an athlete, his career may only be 5 years, and Ruiz still doesn't cherish it so much, it seems that he can't complain about others.
Going forward, Ruiz's return to boxing remains unclear, and he hasn't even ruled out retiring in this way. We hope that Ruiz will be able to pursue new heights in the rest of the time, that his influence will remain, otherwise it would be a pity, to borrow a phrase from Robles to Ruiz - it is not a question of losing, but how you lose and how to see the new day clearly!