Frank Warren has attacked Andy Ruiz Jr over his failure to prepare for his rematch with Anthony Joshua and says he’s brought shame on the sport.
Ruiz Jr faced Joshua for the second time in Saudi Arabia on December 7 to defend the world titles he’d taken from the Brit in June.
But the Mexican-American turned up a stone heavier than he was for the first bout, losing emphatically on points and being relieved of his champion status.
Ruiz Jr has since admitted that he’d been gluttonous and unprepared in the build-up to the fight. And boxing promoter Frank Warren has now laid into the former heavyweight champion for his lack of discipline.
A Scathing Assessment
Warren, who is Tyson Fury’s promoter, took to his website to express his own scathing viewpoint on Ruiz Jr’s behaviour:
“Andy Ruiz Jr, on the other hand, brought disgrace to himself and the sport by simply failing to prepare to any sort of required level,” he wrote.
“Just because you are a heavyweight it shouldn’t mean you don’t have an obligation to display a certain degree of athletic intention.”
“Yes, he was heavy last time around and usually wobbles a bit around the middle, but this was ridiculous. When eyebrows were being raised at the weigh-in he literally was the elephant in the room.”
“Joshua must have wondered which chin he was supposed to aim for.”
No Excuses
Ruiz Jr has since come out and apologetically admitted he ‘partied too much’ and ‘ate everything’ in the build-up, revelling in his success in the first bout. But Warren was having none of it.
He continued: “It is a bit late after the event to come out and say you partied too much and regret carrying so much weight.
If he turned up like that for a non-title fight where the paymasters were not so invested in a positive outcome for their man, the promoters and TV executives would be rightly hacked off over a fighter coming in so obviously out of condition.”
“What we ended up with was a fella who basically scoffed himself out of being world champion and a spectacle that suffered as a result. The fault for this lies firmly with Ruiz.”
“King of the heavyweight division to Burger King in the space of six months.”
Ruiz Jr had at first seemed a humble champion. He came in as the underdog and shocked the world by stopping Joshua in the 7th round.
But it didn’t take long for footage to emerge of him spending his purse lavishly on expensive cars and outrageous parties.
‘He Wasn’t Listening Because Of The Fame’
‘The Destroyer’ has been widely criticized following his schooling from AJ, including by his father, who believes the fame went to his son’s head.
Speaking of his son, Andy Ruiz Sr told Boxing Social: “Andy thought he was going to do good in the weight in the fight,”
“I told him a month ago that you’re not going to do good at the weight. It’s going to be too hard, because you’re going to be tired, and you’re not going to have the movement.”
“He came overweight, that was the problem. It was too much weight for his body.”
“He was not listening because of the fame.”
Ruiz Sr also spoke about his son’s lavish spending after his multi-million dollar purse from the first fight.
“He was with a Rolls Royce, he was with his friends, he was throwing parties, and not listening to the camp.”
“He wanted to stay with his friend, and try to run by himself. It was the worst camp that he could be doing.”
“We love AJ, and he deserved this night to win. But Andy, he didn’t do the right things, that’s what happened.”
It will be interesting to see what comes next for The Destroyer following a year of triumph and ultimately embarrassment.
(Featured image source: Twitter/ Oddschanger and Instagram/ Andy Ruiz Jr)