Andy Ruiz Jr started his day of training with new coach Eddy Reynoso in his gym, and he’s pretty excited about this new start.
The former IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Ruiz (33-2, 22 KOs) has been working out on his own for months, shedding a lot of weight in readying himself to begin training with Reynoso.
We’re going to see whether Reynoso will have any more of an impact on Ruiz’s career than his past coaches Abel Sanchez and Manny Robles. The basic problem that has held Ruiz back is arguably him being inconsistent with his training, and he hasn’t helped himself in the diet department.
Reynoso needs to improve Ruiz’s mobility, and not waste time with his styrofoam pads that he uses to train fighters. Ruiz has to be faster on his feet in cutting off the ring on his opponents, and not letting them grab and hold.
Will Reynoso be sent packing once Ruiz loses?
We’ll see what happens with Reynoso if Ruiz fails to show improvement. If Ruiz gets beaten once or twice, will Reynoso be replaced like some of his other trainers have? There are things in Ruiz’s game that are beyond fixing.
Reynoso isn’t going to be able to turn Ruiz from a short, stubby fighter into a lean heavyweight that can move around the ring. As we saw in Ruiz’s fights against Anthony Joshua and Joseph Parker, he has issues with fighters that are mobile.
It would help if Ruiz got down to the low 250s for his fights, but you can’t count on him being that low on a consistent basis. If Ruiz slacks off with his training, his weight will shoot through the roof, and it won’t help him one bit that he has Reynoso working out with him using styrofoam pads to simulate pressure.
Reynoso is a good coach, but he’s not going to be able to Ruiz to put in the hard work if he’s feeling lazy, and doesn’t want to train hard. Eddy isn’t going to be able to do anything more than what Ruiz’s past trainers have done. Ruiz’s trainers have been top-notch.
If anything, Reynoso can help motivate Ruiz because he’s got a lot of quality fighters in his stable. But as far teaching Ruiz new things that he doesn’t already know, Reynoso isn’t likely to help much in that department. Reynoso is reportedly good at giving tips on who his fighters should fight.
Andy Jr to fight in early 2021
Ruiz, 31, said on Tuesday that he’ll be fighting in early 2021 against an opponent still to be determined. His management has several opponents they’re looking at for Ruiz to face.
It’s important that Ruiz win and look good in doing so. He was beaten by Anthony Joshua in his last fight on December 7th in Saudi Arabia.
“Look who joined our stable today ? The Destroyer himself. Former Heavyweight Champion Andy Ruiz @andy_destroyer13 Both worked hard today and impress each other. Let’s Goo,” said Ryan Garcia’s father Henry Garcia about Andy Ruiz training with Reynoso.
Fighters that can help Ruiz
- Filip Hrgovic
- Daniel Dubois
- Joe Joyce
- Michael Hunter
- Kubrat Pulev
- Efe Ajagba
- Tony Yoka
- Murat Gassiev
- Dereck Chisora
- Oleksandr Usyk
- Evgeny Romanov
- Dillian Whyte
- Alexander Povetkin
The problem with Ruiz fighting those type of heavyweights is the likelihood that he would lose to most of those fighters, and wind up with his career imploding. But if Ruiz wants to improve enough for him to compete against Anthony Joshua or Tyson Fury, he needs to fight the best in the division.
It’s not going to help Ruiz fighting old-timers like 39-year-old Chris Arreola or the heavyset Adam Kownacki. What Ruiz needs is a fighter that has the same type of size and ring IQ that Fury and Joshua posses.
Ruiz has to know that everyone he faces for the remainder of his career is going to use movement, and will hold to keep him from throwing his speedy combinations.