What Andy Ruiz Jr. is likely to remember most about his trip to Saudi Arabia are the explanations and apologies he fed to the media for squashing the scales with 283 1/2 pounds before his rematch with sleek and steely-eyed Anthony Joshua.
The additional 25 pounds of lard would make him stronger, Ruiz promised at his pre-fight interview.
And afterward?
“I’m sorry … I should have listened to my father, my trainers, and my friends, trained harder, and partied less,” he lamented after Joshua fed him leather for 12 rounds.
When the price of pigging out for six months is four world title belts, “sorry” doesn’t suffice. No doubt, Ruiz will live to regret every cheeseburger.
Expert analysts John J. Raspanti and Rizwaan Zahid chew up Ruiz on this week’s show for choosing wine, women, and Whataburger over what may well be a once-in-a-lifetime ascent to glory.
And they contrast his gluttonous lapse to Joshua’s seize-the-day approach to regaining his pinnacle among the world’s best heavyweights.
Raspanti and Zahid also take a close look at Jermall Charlo’s apparent contentment with facing second-tier opposition — and the safety-first approach of a PBC team that continues to stunt his growth and jeopardize his legacy. When will he face Canelo, Golovkin, Saunders, or Andrade? If Haymon, Ellerbe, and Mayweather have their way, maybe never.
And then contender-turned-promoter Dmitriy Salita gives us an inside peek at the cutthroat world of boxing promotion, and tells us what to expect from an impressive stable of fighters he’s gathered under the Brooklyn-based Salita Promotions banner.
Dennis Taylor is host of The Ringside Boxing Show, editor/publisher of www.ringsideboxingshow.com, and co-author (with John J. Raspanti) of “Intimate Warfare: The True Story of the Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward Boxing Trilogy,” an Amazon bestseller.
