Andy Ruiz and Manny Robles Part Ways; Trainer saw it coming

[Ruthless-RKO]

Former WBO, IBO, WBA, IBF heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz has parted ways with head trainer Manny Robles.

Robles led Ruiz to one of the biggest upsets in the history of the heavyweight division, when the Mexican heavyweight stopped heavily favored Anthony Joshua in seven rounds to capture the unified crown at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

But the December rematch was a complete disaster.

After winning the first bout, Ruiz partied for two months. He started training camp way too late - and entered the rematch out of shape with a bloated 283.5-pounds on the scale. He was unable to put his punches together, he was much slower in the ring, and all of that allowed Joshua to easily reclaim his titles with a lopsided twelve round decision.

Since that loss, Robles had barely any contact from Ruiz.

So the veteran coach was not surprised when Ruiz's father reached out on Wednesday night to advise him that his son was going in another direction.

"I've seen it coming, I'll be honest with you," Robles said to Steve Kim of ESPN. "I've seen it coming during camp. I saw it coming, Andy was just doing whatever the hell he wanted to do. The dad, obviously with him being the manager, he just had no control over his son. None of us had control of him, for that matter.

"So I just saw it coming, it wasn't going to work because he wasn't listening. He's not listening to me, he's not listening to his dad, he's not listening to anybody. He said it himself after the press conference [in Saudi Arabia]. He apologized to me, to the dad, because he f---ed up. So I figured, 'OK, it's only a matter of time before I get the call.' Fortunately for me, Andy took the blame on himself and didn't sit there like a majority of fighters and blame the coach."

According to Robles, he was told by Ruiz's father that Al Haymon made the final decision for a trainer change. Ruiz is advised Haymon and fights under Haymon's Premier Boxing Champions banner.

"They apparently told them that they didn't want the same thing to repeat itself, again," Robles said. "It is what it is, I don't know what to tell you. It's not the first time it's happened to me. I'm sure it's not the first time it's happened to other coaches. It happens time and time again. We always end up getting the short end of the stick. But it is what it is, you keep moving forward."

[Roars Like Me]

It's always been Colonel Sander anyway, worst kept secret.

That aside I wonder who will come in, and will Andy listen. I mean he lost the rematch but has hit Xmas twice now, in terms of cash, so I doubt he is unhappy at all to be honest.

[Onetimeonly]

He won't step foot in a gym this year.

[tiny_acres]

How do you blame a trainer because you were too lazy to get in the gym and come into a huge fight looking like the Pillsbury doughboy?

[Onetimeonly]

How do you blame a trainer because you were too lazy to get in the gym and come into a huge fight looking like the Pillsbury doughboy?

Sounds like it's his dad. Andy hates boxing.

[Tony1244]

Ruiz is either going to get fatter and worse and fade into oblivion or he is going to have a very very serious mental and physical makeover.

I'd bet on the former, but I've been wrong before. and I'll be there again.

He needs nothing less than a personal nutritional and training Revolution.

[Enlightened-One]

It’s probably a good move for Andy Ruiz Jr., because there’s no point in the Mexican-American having a trainer he can’t or won’t listen to.

Hopefully Al Haymon can persuade Andy’s father to also step-aside, because Ruiz Jr. might need a completely new highly-experience and accomplished team that has the know-how to find a way to rejuvenate the former champion.

Andy Ruiz Jr. has bags of potential, but he needs the right people to motivate him in order to he ensures he enters the ring with the right mind-set and physical conditioning.

I know it’s a tall order, because Andy is already set for life (wealth-wise) and might not have the necessary desire to rebuild in order to reach the top again, but changing his failing team seems to be a move in the right direction.

[cormack]

Not a surprise .. how can the trainer put up with that attitude

[Enlightened-One]

Not a surprise .. how can the trainer put up with that attitude

One of the most important responsibilities of a trainer is to understand their fighter and use that knowledge to motivate their charge.

So it’s naïve to think that Manny Robles is completely blameless for the split with Andy Ruiz Jr.

How can a fighter trust his trainer when he’s airing his gripes to the media about Ruiz Jr’s poor conditioning and having not returned to the gym four months prior to the Anthony Joshua rematch?

The trainer, who is essentially an employee, needs to refrain from airing his team’s dirty laundry in public.

Most of us, who aren’t self-employed, would probably get sacked if we behaved in a similar manner against our employer.

Don’t get me wrong, Andy Ruiz Jr. should take the lion’s share of the blame for his poor physical conditioning for the AJ rematch, but none of us should believe that his trainer is completely blameless.

[apollo creed]

With those M's Ruiz Jr is now on fiestas , coronas, carne asada, tacos and burritos training regimen. 500 lbs coming soon!

[gilgamesh]

Ruiz is either going to get fatter and worse and fade into oblivion or he is going to have a very very serious mental and physical makeover.

I'd bet on the former, but I've been wrong before. and I'll be there again.

He needs nothing less than a personal nutritional and training Revolution.

I'd strongly lean towards the bold. Fat and undisciplined has been the read on him since before the upset, it never changed. He just caught lightning in a bottle once.

[margaret thatcher]

Things change fast, just a month or so ago people were saying how having Robles train him has been a great move

[Onetimeonly]

Things change fast, just a month or so ago people were saying how having Robles train him has been a great move

Trainers in general get more credit than they deserve for short term assignments. Unless you're with a fighter from the start it's mainly just motivation and a wrinkle here and there.

[oogiebe]

Things change fast, just a month or so ago people were saying how having Robles train him has been a great move

It was so long as Ruiz paid attention to training at all, which he apparently didn't.

[Best Coast]

I wont be surprised if the fat slug never gets in decent shape again, even if he decides to collect another paycheck

[Enlightened-One]

Andy Ruiz Jr. is currently looking enormous on his latest social media feeds, much heavier than what he weighed for the AJ rematch.

The Mexican-American was 30lbs heavier than his typical fighting weight during his most recent outing, but he’s looking very bloated at the moment and I’m inclined to believe that he might be weighing in excess of 330lbs.

It's be feasible for him to lose 80lbs or so within the next six months, to technically achieve his typical fighting weight, but he won’t be able to do so in a healthy manner, without adversely affecting his athletic ability.

I’ve always been a huge fan of Andy Ruiz Jr. and I’m pleased he’s achieved so much financial wealth for his family and himself, but I feel his days as top-tier world-rated heavyweight may already be over.

He might fight again, but I seriously doubt he’s able to be competitive at world-level. He’s just far too damn heavy and clearly doesn’t live the lifestyle of an elite-level professional athlete!

[Roars Like Me]

Tyson needs to befriend him, talk to him about his story with weight and turning it around.

All the fat poking is fair game and he is loaded...the sad thing is he's a great boxer, I'd love to see a fit version of him fighting.

[Cyclops]

He won the lottery twice. I was going to type that he'd just do a Maidana but he's already corpulently overweight and doesn't appear to have bought a ranch where he can go hunting and live off beers and BBQ's for the rest of his life. Ruiz doesn't seem like the outdoor type, and is probably more likely to get his food delivered in a bucket. I don't remember El Chino being particularly bling and flashy either, whereas Ruiz seems like the kind of guy who'll be spending his money on grotesque watches and chains. Comes across as a nice bloke though, so hopefully he won't be pulling a Broner and should be set up alright. They'll probably have to knock a wall down and use a crane to get him out of his house at one point in his life, but other than that he's good.

[Onetimeonly]

Tyson needs to befriend him, talk to him about his story with weight and turning it around.

All the fat poking is fair game and he is loaded...the sad thing is he's a great boxer, I'd love to see a fit version of him fighting.

Great? He looks shit to me. Terrible punching technique. A real fit version might be a cruiser.

[snake33]

Unless Andy Ruiz somehow runs through his money, he will never be
a valid contender again. He will just get fatter.
And if he does run out of money that will not guarantee he will get in
shape. He might come back fat and take a few flops.

[fanman]

How quickly they rise and fall. Remember just watching footage of Ruiz training for Joshua and comments on what a terror he looked like.
I'm sure he can run through some low level contenders at some point to build himself back up, before another tilt at a title.