“The Destroyer” Versus “Big Baby.”
It’s been reported over at ESPN.com, how heavyweight veterans Andy Ruiz and Jarrell Miller will collide in August, on the Terence Crawford-Israil Mardimov card set for L.A, to also feature Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz against Jose Valenzuela. And it’s fair to say that the announcement of this heavyweight match up has raised a few eyebrows.
Who wins this one? On the one hand, former heavyweight champ Ruiz, 35-2(22) has not fought in what seems like an age, actually a month shy of two years come the Miller fight. While on the other hand, convicted drugs cheat Miller is coming off a stoppage loss against Daniel Dubois, a fight in which Miller tipped-in at a hefty 333 pounds! Ruiz has also come close to breaking the scale when weighing-in for a fight, with the Mexican-American coming at over 280 pounds for his return fight with Anthony Joshua.
There promises to be a combined weight of something like 550+ pounds when Ruiz and Miller clamber into the ring. It is hoped both men are training, or at least will train, for this fight, and properly. Ruiz, when he’s on fire, has arguably got the fastest pair of hands in the heavyweight division. Really, Ruiz, the younger man by a year at age 34, and also the more talented boxer of the two, should win this fight, perhaps with relative ease. IF he’s in shape and sufficiently motivated.
Ruiz looked decent in his last fight, this against Luis Ortiz back in September of 2022, with the former champ dropping Ortiz three times on the way to a UD win. Miller has not won a truly meaningful fight, well, ever. Miller of course blew his shot at AJ back in June of 2019, this by testing hot, with Ruiz stepping in at short-notice and really hitting the jackpot by scoring the upset stoppage win over Joshua. But that was a long time ago, and Ruiz has never looked as dangerous, as super-motivated, or as hungry since.
Is there still time for Ruiz to make up for lost time, with him beating Miller and then getting himself back into the mix at top level? Does the chance to bag some of the crazy Saudi money that is on offer these days get Ruiz’s engines going?
Who knows, it could be a fun fight when Ruiz and Miller fight, even if plenty of fans will no doubt wonder why Miller keeps on getting big-fight opportunities. There could be a good deal of trash-talk in the lead-up to the fight, with almost all of it coming from New Yorker Miller, currently 26-1-1(22). As for who wins, Ruiz has to be the pick, but if he’s not in good shape both mentally and physically………Anything could happen.
Do YOU like this fight?