Andy Ruiz Jr. no longer possesses his beloved world heavyweight titles following a turbulent year before his recent comeback.
‘The Destroyer,’ who did just that to Anthony Joshua when winning the unified belts in 2019, went through a messy split with the mother of his children. The parting ended months of domestic turmoil, keeping Ruiz out of boxing action.
Upon his return against Jarrell Miller recently, Mexico’s first-ever top division ruler lifted the lid on his ex’s decision to throw all his possessions out of the family home. However, Ruiz claims his championships, plus $1 million in precious metals, gold, and ice, were not passed on.
Speaking to DAZN, Ruiz answered the question of how many chains he has after going through media day wearing the famous AR necklace he bought with his purse from the first AJ fight.
“I have a few, but from my break-up and all that, they stole everything. Almost $1 million worth of jewelry and my belts,” explained Ruiz. “My championship belts, she took that too.
” I know for a fact because she did that restraining order for me to move out of my house that I bought, and all my belts were there, my jewelry. She knew the combination to my safe and everything. So she literally wiped me out. I didn’t care about the jewelry at that time. I was like, you know what, forget that. It’s just material things, but the championship belts hurt me a lot.”
Ruiz won the WBO, WBA, and IBF straps when he defeated Joshua at Madison Square Garden in New York. The victory triggered a lifelong dream that turned into a six-month party. At that point, Ruiz had no interest in defending the titles yet, as he wanted to enjoy his success and the fact that he had just beaten the recognized number-one heavyweight in the world.
By the time Joshua’s promoter began throwing contract points at Ruiz in a bid to get the new ruler to focus on the stipulated rematch, Ruiz still wanted more time. However, the paperwork signed by Ruiz stated he had to give the Briton an immediate shot at redemption within six months, and he was firmly backed into a corner.
Videos and images of him training and losing weight were circulated with zero evidence that they came from Ruiz and his team despite speculation. The truth was, Ruiz hardly trained at all and put on a mound of weight for the second fight in Riyadh later that same year.
Joshua then took the belts back in a wide points decision as Ruiz contemplated having one of the most wasteful reigns in recent memory. He lost the titles before he had a chance to enjoy them, and now he’s no longer holding the straps gifted to him by all three sanctioning bodies for his significant achievement.
Read all articles and exclusive interviews by Phil Jay. Learn more about the author, experienced boxing writer, and World Boxing News Editor since 2010. Follow on Twitter @PhilJWBN.
