When Andy Ruiz Jr. steps into the ring with Chris Arreola on May 1st it will have marked nearly 18 months since his last bout.
A defeat on points to Anthony Joshua for the heavyweight title back in December 2019.
The world is a very different place now for obvious reasons, but so is Ruiz Jr.
Implementing change and improvements for the better, getting rid of the bad stuff and keeping the good stuff promises to be exciting for his boxing career.
He has been candid that he has only started really taking things seriously in his boxing career now.
That night against Joshua, he was far from being in shape from a professional athlete, to be fair.
This time on May 1st he’s coming into the fight in good shape and this shows as much:
(Hat tip EsNews YouTube)
It will be interesting to see what weight Ruiz will land at on fight night.
And, how his fight style, will incorporate the new frame.
While Arreola isn’t a big heavyweight the fight could act as a useful measuring stick and testing parameter for Ruiz on how he will adapt the new frame to his fight style moving forward.
Both boxers like to engage, so style-wise, it will be an entertaining fight.
Should Ruiz win, and be in contention for fights against the likes of Wilder, Joshua and Fury in the future, foot speed and head movement will be key to defense against larger adversaries.
Ruiz has always had fast hands but speed of foot and head movement could be new advantages to his more evolved arsenal — based on the new choices he has been making to his diet and training regiment.
Living cleaner and more disciplined than ever by all accounts.
This is also a good watch pertaining to Ruiz’ comeback on his new, but already, hugely successful YouTube channel:
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