By: Hans Themistode
Deontay Wilder has been mostly out of the public eye ever since suffering a devastating knockout defeat at the hands of Tyson Fury in February of 2020. On the night, Wilder was dropped numerous times before ultimately succumbing in the seventh round and forfeiting his WBC heavyweight crown.
Besides a back and forth war of words with former co-trainer Mark Breland, Wilder’s future plans have been mostly kept under wraps. Although a date for his return has yet to be revealed, the Alabama native posted a video of himself training for the first time since his defeat.
While many in the boxing world were anxious to see Wilder sporting a pair of boxing gloves in over a year, Andy Ruiz Jr. was particularly interested in seeing what he’s been working on. The former unified heavyweight titlist couldn’t help but nod his head in approval when discussing what he saw from the short video clip.
“He looks pretty good,” said Ruiz Jr. during an interview with FightHype.com “And he has a new trainer as well. We all have our little struggles but he’s looking good.”
Ruiz Jr., 31, is just a few days away from making his own return to the ring when he takes on fringe contender Chris Arreola at Dignity Health Sports Park, in Carson California on FOX pay-per-view.
For Ruiz Jr., he’ll look to show that he’s dedicated to his craft after losing in embarrassing fashion to Anthony Joshua in December of 2019. Although Ruiz Jr. made history in becoming the first fighter of Mexican descent to win a heavyweight world title six months prior, he admitted that he lost his way and enjoyed the fruits of his labor for far longer than he should have.
If everything goes the way he envisions it, he’ll jump back into the win column with big fights lined up in his future. Amongst them, he hopes, is a showdown with Wilder.
“If they want to fight, I’ll be willing to fight.”