DAN RAFAEL ON ANDY RUIZ, JR. AND WHO KNOWS WHAT
Dan Rafael is a Senior Writer for ESPN, a boxing scribe who contributes to ESPN.com.
Andy Ruiz, Jr. is a Mexican-American fighter who turned the boxing world on its ear when he became the first heavyweight of Mexican descent to win a world title.
[Sidebar: John Ruiz — no relation — is a Puerto Rican-American former professional boxer who fought from 1992–2010. He held the WBA heavyweight title twice between 2001 and 2005 and is the first Latino boxer ever to win a world heavyweight crown].
On June 1st. Andy Ruiz, Jr. scored a TKO of Brit Anthony Joshua who was making his debut in the States with 1:26 remaining in Round 7 as a 14–1 underdog, authoring one of the biggest upsets in boxing history.
The 268 lb. Ruiz (33–1; 22 KOs) bearing an uncanny resemblance to a big bowl of jello was a late replacement for Jarell Miller who had failed a drug test or two or three.
Despite having little time to properly prepare, Ruiz thrilled the Madison Square Garden sellout crowd of 22,201 by rebounding from his own third-round knockdown — the first of his career — to put the sculpted Joshua (22–1; 21 KOs) on the canvas four times, twice in three minutes.
In so doing the WBA, IBF and WBO titles along with their bejeweled belts were his.
The chiseled Joshua found himself in rarified air — the air of preordained victory.
A 6’6” 250 pound Adonis with matinee-idol good looks, he was undefeated in the ring and had amassed a portfolio worth $39 million according to a 2018 Forbes list of the world’s highest paid athletes — unheard of for a boxer who had not yet fought professionally in the United States.
Insanely popular in London where 90,000 fans are known to routinely roar when he trades blows with opponents at Wembley Stadium, Joshua was fiercely determined to create an identity on this side of the pond.
(He did just that, but not in the way he might have imagined or chosen).
He arrived well in advance of the bout to unveil himself and his product, the thought of anything — or anyone — standing in his way as far removed as his homeland.
A harbinger of things to come perhaps manifest itself when Joshua showed up in early May at a Hugo Boss store in Midtown Manhattan to promote the Boss Stretch Tailoring campaign he began endorsing about a year and a half ago.
As he was inspecting several new pieces it became clear that nary a soul knew the champ was in the house.
Joshua sloughed it off by remarking that, “I wouldn’t expect anyone outside of boxing to recognize me in New York, or any other place in the world where they haven’t seen me fight.”
Ego, unbruised and intact and undaunted by the prospect of suffering from an American identity crisis which could derail the expansion of his financial empire in the US, Joshua remained sanguine in his quest to become a global icon, boxing’s version of his style and business mentor David Beckham.
(The indefatigable Forbes estimated that Beckham has earned about $800 million in his lifetime).
“I have a four-to-five year plan. During that time, I will fight as often as I can in the United States, and I will put on such memorable performances that people here, or anywhere, will never forget my name.”
This time for the wrong reason.
As my mother often told me, “be careful what you wish for.”
Nicknames cruel and hurtful have followed Andy Ruiz, Jr. forever, some sticking to him like flypaper.
“Fat slob.”
“Pillsbury Doughboy.”
“Russell” from the movie Up.
More kindly, a “lunch-pail guy,” albeit with a few too many stops at Johnny’s Burritos, Donut Avenue and El Zarape.
Enough. Make way. Step aside. Move over.
He is now “Rocky Mexicano.” An unlikely looking sort, a paunchy kid with a power-packed punch, the former ne’er-do-well from the border town of Imperial, CA. has made the big-time.
Nearly $6 million in earnings. An appearance on Jimmy Kimmel. A trip to Mexico City for a meet and greet with the president.
“Me becoming the first Mexican heavyweight champion of the world, it’s a blessing,” Ruiz offered. “Pinch me Mom, we did it!!”
And uplifting for Imperial, a community beleaguered by the sweeping, scathing and unsparing national divisiveness over immigrants.
Ruiz has shown the boxing world and its aficionados that the “sweet science” still has the power to inspire.
And his father, Andy Ruiz, Sr. cuts to the heart of the matter by stating simply, “Latinos, we can do something for America. We don’t come here to take the place of the white people. We come here to work, to establish our sons, so they can do something in life.”
Growing up wasn’t easy for young Ruiz. When the boy misbehaved his father took him 20 miles across the border to train in various gyms in Mexico including his father’s ramshackle boxing gym in Mexicali.
The trips were endless, monotonous — back-and-forth waiting for hours at each crossing. The youngster’s dedication was sorely tested.
Seeing this, Sr. put him to work in his construction business hanging drywall in sweltering heat to show him what real life was like. And when the kid got into yet another street beef, Sr. ratcheted it up a little.
He had a pal who was a cop and together they conspired to toss Jr. into the clink to introduce him to that lifestyle.
It worked.
“So now he started listening,” Sr. recalled. “He learned to listen.”
As for Jr., he conceded that, “Everybody is tough there [in Imperial] because it’s just a small town just near the Mexican border. Lots of drug smuggling. There’s gangs. Cartels. But luckily, boxing saved my life. It kept me disciplined, it kept me away from the streets.”
Deontay Wilder (41–0–1; 40 KOs) holds the WBC heavyweight title belt, the only one that Joshua first and now Ruiz does not own.
Defeating Bermane Stiverne (who had wrested the vacated title of the retiring Vitali Klitschko from Chris Arreola) on Jan 17, 2015, he became the first American world heavyweight champion in nine years, the longest period of time in boxing history without an American heavyweight champ.
(That Muhammad Ali was born on that date — January 17 — is a nice coincidence).
Tyson Fury, another British pugilist won the unified heavyweight world championship (WBA-Super; IBF; WBO; Lineal and The Ring) on November 28, 2015 against Wladimir Klitschko, Vitali’s brother in a 12-round unanimous decision.
Mental issues and substance abuse nearly took him out altogether but by God’s grace and his own hard work he made it back gradually from his rock bottom to fight Wilder on December 1, 2018 for the WBC heavyweight championship. They fought to a 12-round split decision draw meaning Wilder retained his WBC title.
On June 15, 2019 Fury battered German Tom Schwarz (cries of “fix” are still echoing) scoring a second round (2:54) TKO to run his record to 28–0–1.
It seems as if maybe he’s here to stay.
Joshua, Wilder, Fury…and Ruiz, Jr.
Not exactly the star-studded heavyweight cast of the Ali-Frazier-Foreman era but not bad.
Ruiz’ gargantuan upset of Joshua evoked images of Buster Douglas’ unheard of and epic beatdown of Mike Tyson, thereby infusing even greater excitement and anticipation into the division’s future match-ups.
And no less an authority than ESPN’s Rafael is in Joshua’s corner, systematically defending him against the relentless wave of criticism threatening to swallow him whole.
Was he exposed in his seventh title defense?
Rafael cites quality wins over Wladimir Klitschko, Dillian Whyte, Joseph Parker, Alexander Povetkin and Carlos Takam.
Glass jaw and no chin?
Only Klitschko, an all-time great puncher and Ruiz who repeatedly nailed him on the button, have knocked Joshua down and he kept getting up.
No heart?
Rafael notes that getting out of the third round against Ruiz is a testament to his heart in and of itself.
Guys with no heart don’t get up four times.
And Joshua was already concussed when he told referee Michael Griffin that he wanted to continue after the second knockdown in the seventh round.
Griffin correctly stopped the fight but there’s a difference between being all done for the night and quitting.
And put to rest the question of Joshua’s stamina.
There is no question; he’s got it.
Rafael admonishes those who are quick to excoriate Joshua that the same criticisms were levied against fellow Olympic gold medalists Lennox Lewis and Wladimir Klitschko — Lewis after he was knocked out by Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman and Klitschko after he was KO’D at the hands of Corrie Sanders and Lamon Brewster.
Both Lewis and Klitschko rebounded with a nasty vengeance and went on to become all-time great heavyweight champions after their respective setbacks.
Joshua is certain he’ll be back. (Rafael agrees).
Wilder still holds the WBC belt.
Fury has exorcised his demons…for now.
And Ruiz, Jr?
He needs to win.
Never mind the sit-ups, cut out the pinching, punch like mad and just win.
[Editor’s Note: This piece was written by Mr. Kaplan in June 2019.]
ADDENDA: On December 7, 2019 in a rematch with Joshua at the Diriyah Arena in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, Ruiz, Jr. surrendered his heavyweight titles and belts losing a unanimous decision (118–110; 118–110; 119–109).
On February 22, 2020 Deontay Wilder lost his WBC heavyweight crown to Tyson Fury @ 1:39 of the seventh round (of a scheduled 12) by TKO.
With his defeat of Wilder, Fury became the third heavyweight ever — after Floyd Patterson and Muhammad Ali — to hold The Ring magazine title twice, and the first heavyweight in history to have held the WBA (Super), WBC, IBF, WBO and The Ring magazine titles. As of April 2020, he is ranked the world’s best active heavyweight by ESPN, the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board (TBRB), and BoxRec.
