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Andy Ruiz Jr is ‘going to return’, says his trainer

"In the time that I've been working with him, I have realized that he is a boy who wants to continue to overcome..."

Andy Ruiz Jr's trainer, Eddy Reynoso, has insisted that the former world heavyweight champion will bounce back.

Ruiz Jr had a rollercoaster year in 2019. Anthony Joshua was due to defend his world titles against Jarrell Miller at Madison Square Garden on June 1. Though that bout had to be cancelled after Miller failed numerous drugs test.

This was a huge blow for Joshua and Eddie Hearn, as his American debut was now in doubt. They acted quickly to draft in a replacement, as Ruiz Jr agreed to step in.

The 'Destroyer' was mainly written off in the fight, with only the boxing purists thinking he had a chance. Yet, Ruiz Jr shocked the world to become the new world heavyweight champion.
He bullied Joshua and knocked him down on four separate occasions before the bout was stopped in the seventh round.
A new IBF, IBO, WBA and WBO world heavyweight champion was crowned, but a rematch was set up before the end of the year in Saudi Arabia.
This time around, a more focused Joshua outboxed Ruiz to win comfortable on the cards. The fight was scored 119-109, 118-110 and 118-110 all in favour of the Brit.
It is now over ten months since that fight, and Ruiz Jr is still yet to return to the ring. There was talk of a fight with Dillian Whyte and others, but his next fight is yet to be confirmed.
Ruiz Jr made a trainer change earlier this year, as he split with Manny Robles to link up with Reynoso, who is best known for training Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez.
Reynoso recently spoke with ESPN Deportes and said that Ruiz Jr is hungry to return better than ever:
"The important thing with Andy is that he is a fighter who is at the highest levels of his division, who can fight with anyone. In the time that I've been working with him, I have realized that he is a boy who wants to continue to overcome.
"He is young and wants to get ahead. He has already tasted the honeys of victory; he already knows what it is to be a champion and not be a champion. Andy Ruiz is intelligent and he is going to return."
The heavyweight ranks are stacked with some top-class fighters. The division is certainly better for having Ruiz Jr as part of it. His decision to join Canelo's camp with Reynoso is a very promising one, as the trainer is very well regarded in boxing.

Even though he got dominated in the rematch against AJ, he did not show his best self in that bout. Hopefully, Reynoso can bring the best out in Ruiz Jr so we can see him putting in performances at a similar level to the first fight against Joshua again.

There are some big fights out there for Ruiz Jr down the line and he definitely has the ability to cause a big stir in the division again. If this relationship with Reynoso goes as well as it could, you would not be surprised to see him win another world title in a few years.

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