If Andy Ruiz Jr got in shape and fought on cruiserweight, how good would he be?

[mustlogin]

Do you think he could beat Usyk, Gassiev or Briedis?

[SaadOffTheDeck]

No, I think he'd lose any small advantages in speed he has at heavyweight.

[DannyMCR]

From what I've seen of Ruiz, I'd say no

[gilgamesh]

I don't think he can be or will be that good in any way. Losing a competitive decision to Joseph Parker is probably gonna be the highlight of his career. Too undisciplined for anything more.

[Enlightened-One]

Here’s my thoughts on the matter, which I articulated to the forum on the 19th July, 2016:

Andy Ruiz is a hugely impressive fighter. I really do love his fighting style and his amateur record is phenomenal.

In my mind, he has the very best all-round boxing skills of any currently active world-rated heavyweight fighter.

Unfortunately though, his weight issues, coupled with the fact that he's a small guy that should really be competing as a cruiserweight...

I very rarely get carried away by a fighter, but if Andy Ruiz was 50lbs or so lighter, he could easily dominate the cruiserweight division for at least a decade. Instead, he’ll probably get is áss handed to him by physically bigger and more athletic guys, possessing vastly inferior (if not primitive) boxing skills in comparison, simply because he’s unable to effectively manage his own weight.

Click on the blue hyperlink text to review the original quote in the thread it was posted to.

I also successfully predicted that Andy Ruiz Jr. was capable of defeating Joseph Parker… and was ridiculed, at the time, for possessing the sheer audacity to propose such a hideously absurd notion!

[dagilechia]

well i'm not sure how he would do in CW for a simple reason - I can't even imagine him without that fat. In CW without 30kg of his fat he would look small compared to Usyk or Gassiev, as Mike Perez does. But I always wondered how would do Szpilka and Ugonoh if they stayed in CW.

[KiwiRider]

I've only seen him in the Parker fight, which I have watched twice.
So I'm not really sure how he would go at cruiser. His hand speed, punch variations and surprisingly, his engine impressed me.
As EO has said, he is too small in this current crop of HW's to be effective. If he was dedicated to his training and diet, he would be a real problem to the current crop of cruiserweight fighters. Perhaps top 5?
Sadly he has not fought since his loss to Parker, which could have gone either way.
I check up on him via Boxrec from time to time but no fights on the horizon for him yet, which is a shame. I'd like to see more of him

[asdfjkl]

Better as that English top cruiserweight from a couple of years ago who later lost badly against Klitschko.

[Blodhemn]

Not good. Heavyweights are overweight, slow and unskilled Cruiserweights.

[Stuarty]

well i'm not sure how he would do in CW for a simple reason - I can't even imagine him without that fat. In CW without 30kg of his fat he would look small compared to Usyk or Gassiev, as Mike Perez does. But I always wondered how would do Szpilka and Ugonoh if they stayed in CW.

Fair comment

[dagilechia]

I would like to see a fight of 2 fat boys, Ruiz vs Kownacki, and I think Kownacki wins.

[Tanzio]

If Ruiz actually became a born again hard worker, I think that he could comfortably get down to SMW, where he could definitely be competitive. That is not happening while burritos, chili rellenos, and tortas remain off the endangered species list

[ValMar]

If Ruiz actually became a born again hard worker, I think that he could comfortably get down to SMW, where he could definitely be competitive. That is not happening while burritos, chili rellenos, and tortas remain off the endangered species list

Well done, Tanzio !

[KiwiRider]

I would like to see a fight of 2 fat boys, Ruiz vs Kownacki, and I think Kownacki wins.

Gosh yes!
That would be a humdinger alright.
Both guys have good hand speed and stamina.
But Andy would need a warm up fight just to get him ready and make sure it was competitive.

[dagilechia]

I would like to see a fight of 2 fat boys, Ruiz vs Kownacki, and I think Kownacki wins.

Gosh yes!
That would be a humdinger alright.
Both guys have good hand speed and stamina.
But Andy would need a warm up fight just to get him ready and make sure it was competitive.

Ruiz has slighty better handspeed, better technique, maybe a better footwork too, but Kownacki has a better workrate, fights more agresively, throws a lot of punches harder than those of Ruiz. would be a nice fight in NY or Chicago with Polish and Mexican attendance it should be a good HW fight with nice atmosphere

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Hard to imagine that being more interesting than sitcom reruns.

[3132DW]

When is he due to fight again ?

[Enlightened-One]

When is he due to fight again ?

I don't think that there's anything planned at the moment.

That being said, Bryant Jennings very recently signed a deal to join Top Rank’s stable of fighters, which includes the likes of Andy Ruiz Jr. and also Joseph Parker.

Therefore, I feel it’s highly likely that Bob Arum will eventually pit Andy Ruiz Jr. against Bryant Jennings, with the winner next in line to face fellow stablemate, Joseph Parker, for a shot at the WBO world heavyweight title (assuming the Kiwi can successfully defend his belt against Hughie Fury, which is no sure thing).