Andy Ruiz Jnr, seven years removed from shocking then-unbeaten Anthony Joshua, is heading into Thursday’s make-or-break battle with Damian Knyba with a new lust for life.
The 36-year-old, who would lose the immediate rematch to Joshua and has only fought three times since, has often been criticised for poor discipline.
During his latest period of inactivity – he last fought in August 2024 when he drew with Jarrell Miller – plenty questioned whether we’d see the former heavyweight beltholder in the ring again.
Ruiz, too, wondered what was ahead.
“It got really dark. Really dark,” Ruiz, 35-2-1 (22 KOs), told Ariel Helwani.
“Everybody goes through roller coasters. Everybody has ups and downs in their life, and especially when it gets mental as well. Especially when you feel like you’re not good enough, you feel like you’re not going to be the same, you feel like you don’t want to do this anymore.”
Ruiz is now being guided by Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn – the man who arranged his life-changing shot at Joshua all those years ago – and is again being trained by Manny Robles.
Ruiz – who admits he partied too hard after that win over “AJ” but has now embraced fasting and dieting – claims to have lost around 40lbs.
“I was probably about 300lbs; I’m now 257lbs. I like where I am at; I’m not where I want to be at, but it’s great progress,
“I want to be more chiselled. I want to look like Anthony Joshua. I want to have an eight-pack, but maybe it is not for me.”
Ruiz takes on Knyba, 17-1 (11 KOs), at Newark’s Prudential Center in New Jersey.
