Deontay Wilder faced accusations of a sparring partner opponent diving by the father of his former heavyweight rival Andy Ruiz Jr.
“The Bronze Bomber” demolished Robert Helenius in 177 seconds in October 2022. The pair fought it out after spending time together training for Wilder’s previous clash with Tyson Fury. After negotiations fell apart for a WBC final eliminator against Ruiz, Andy Sr.’s allegations shocked the division.
Ruiz Sr. didn’t hesitate to claim that Helenius was a hand-picked opponent after lengthy training with Wilder.
“He fought against a sparring partner [Helenius],” Ruiz Sr. told IZQUIERDAZO. “I think that sparring partner dived. And Andy comes from a good fight that lasted twelve rounds.”
Wilder and his team may not take that kind of comment lightly, whether lost in translation or a throwaway comment. Co-manager Shelly Finkel takes legal matters involving his fighter very seriously.
Senior’s verbal hammering comes after Wilder blamed the dad of the former world heavyweight champion. Wilder mentioned Andy Sr. directly when pointing out what he sees as the only problem left in the fight discussions.
“Stop playing around and be a man,” said Wilder. “Make your own decisions. Don’t allow your daddy to mess up your last few years. Daddy’s boy. It’s okay to be that, but you’re a grown man with children depending on you.
“Remember that before it’s too late, you’ll have regrets while your father lectures you on how you should have saved your money,” he joked.
Wilder also gave an ultimatum and a timescale to conclude the deal until everything collapsed around them.
“Andy. It’s time up for the games now, buddy. Let’s get this fight on, man. We offered you a hell of a lot of money. Now, the one thing I don’t want is I don’t want you to allow others to dictate your career at this moment in time.
“It’s only a short period that you have. You’ve got to man up to your responsibilities. Because if you allow others to dictate your life at this point, you’re going to end up with nothing,
“You’ll have zero. You’ll be broke, my man. Okay? So make wise decisions.”
Ruiz Sr. had offered his own explanation as to why the fight fell apart.
“Deontay Wilder wants to offer Andy [Jr] around thirty percent [of the entire purse for the Pay Per View fight]. We want a fifty-fifty deal because Wilder is no longer a champion. He is coming from a very bad fight,” said Ruiz Sr.
Talk of the fight being reignited for 2025 has crept back in following their recent bad performances. Wilder lost to Zhilei Zhang, while Ruiz drew with Jarrell Miller.
If Turki Alalshikh does not offer Wilder another fight after two straight losses, Al Haymon could come back in for Wilder and offer him the Ruiz lifeline.
Both are former heavyweight champions – and if Saudi Arabia is not interested, they will have nowhere else to go.
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.
