World Boxing News exclusively broke the news that Deontay Wilder is no longer pursuing a fight with Andy Ruiz Jr. Now, the reason for the implosion has been revealed.
Wilder pulled out of talks with Ruiz weeks ago as the pair when back and forth on social media. After “The Bronze Bomber” warned Ruiz to ‘sign the contract’ and accept a percentage less than his terms, the fight was effectively dead immediately.
“What happened was that Andy tried to out-price himself of the fight,” Scott told FightHubTV. “It’s the same thing e did with [Tyson] Fury.
“It’s the same way he’s done with other fighters that he wanted to fight. This time, he was dealing with someone that doesn’t have to fight him for money.
“So if you want to play games, he wants the same money he was getting when he was a champion in a blink of an eye.”
Andy Ruiz Jr. blamed for the Deontay Wilder collapse
On why Ruiz isn’t worth the investment, Scott added: “You don’t get that same money [as when you were champion]. You’re a contender now. You don’t get that type of money.
“I don’t get mad at nobody for striving for higher revenue. It’s a tough sport. He did what he had to do as far as fighting for the gain of revenue for himself and his family.
“It didn’t work, and we’re onto bigger and better things.”
Instantly moving on to renew talks with Saudi officials over a battle with Anthony Joshua, Wilder may have to go into the event without a warm-up.
Unless dates are flexible, as they were from December to January, Wilder will be staring at a fifteen-month absence before the AJ collision.
Wilder vs Joshua
The American slugger will undoubtedly be looking to get a feel for the ring if he can. However, judging by Joshua’s last two performances, Wilder may not be too worried if he can’t get a tune-up.
Joshua looked tentative and sluggish for six rounds against Robert Helenius, getting booed by his own fans before managing to land a knockout blow.
Despite pushing 40, Wilder will still begin as the hot favorite over his 33-year-old career-long nemesis. It usually only takes one punch [apart from the anomaly Tyson Fury] to nail his opponents.
Wobbled on many occasions in his career, Joshua will almost certainly have to take at least one of Wilder’s haymakers. The question is, can he get up from it?
