After last night’s less than thrilling heavyweight fight between fringe contenders Efe Ajagba and Stephan Shaw, this a fight won by Ajagba but with neither man impressing or exciting the fans, an injection of excitement is needed in the heavyweight division. And who do fans look to for this?
Right now, Jared Anderson aside, Deontay Wilder is still by far and away the best, most exciting US heavyweight out there.
It could be some time before another American heavyweight comes along to replace Wilder. Right now, we are waiting on Wilder’s next fight. It looks as though it will be Andy Ruiz, Ruiz of course being of Mexican-American heritage, and fans ARE excited about this match up; a WBC final eliminator. However, Wilder’s trainer Malik Scott says Ruiz is far too lacking in discipline to be a threat to “The Bronze Bomber.”
Talking with Mirror Fighting, Scott said Ruiz loses when he’s in there with a fully disciplined fighter. Scott goes as far as to say Chris Arreola deserved the decision over Ruiz when they fought back in May of 2021.
“Andy Ruiz is a serious test. Not just for Deontay but for anybody. But for a disciplined Deontay, in my opinion, Andy Ruiz doesn’t even come close to being in the same league as him,” Scott said. “Because what beats Andy Ruiz? Discipline! An old Arreola gave him trouble just with discipline. Andy’s problem is he can’t beat disciplined fighters. I had Arreola winning by two rounds. Against Deontay, Andy is going to reach, he has to, we’re taller, and when he reaches he’s going to pay like he’s never paid before.”
As strong a case as Scott makes for a Wilder win over Ruiz, plenty of fans do feel the fight is interesting, as Ruiz has those fast hands. But the big fights Scott wants for Wilder are fights with Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua. Scott is certain his guy knocks out both Usyk and AJ.
“Deontay is the hardest puncher in the history of the sport,” Scott went on. “And Deontay doesn’t have to hit you over and over….we’ll see how much Usyk can take it.”
And Scott has said again and again how Wilder takes Joshua out “in a three round fight.”
So can Wilder get the big fights he wants and can he become champion again? To repeat, Jared Anderson aside, there doesn’t seem to be any American heavyweight out there aside from Wilder who is capable of bringing a world title home.
