Time away from boxing gave Andy Ruiz Jr. the chance to rebuild his life outside the ring before deciding it was time to pursue another run in the heavyweight division.
The former unified champion returns against Damian Knyba on September 4 in Newark. Months spent with his family convinced Ruiz he still wanted to compete and make another push in the heavyweight ranks.
“I got a chance to recover my hand, my shoulder. A lot of people don’t know the surgeries that I had and all the downfalls. I was just with my kids. Being with them, it was a good time just being out of boxing as well. I got to work on a lot of different things, my social life, the things we were investing with me and my dad. It was good, but I got tired of being tired,” Ruiz said to Fighthype, explaining why he reached back out to trainer Manny Robles. “I had to call Rob. ‘Hey, Manny, you think we could reunite? You think we could get together? You think we could make history again?’ He said, ‘Yeah, just come over here and let’s train.’ Everything’s been amazing. Thanks to Jesus, thanks to God. Everything has been going just as planned.”
Their partnership produced the defining victory of Ruiz’s career in 2019 when he upset Anthony Joshua to capture three world heavyweight titles. Returning to that familiar camp, Ruiz believes he regained the discipline needed to place himself back in the heavyweight title picture.
Knyba provides Ruiz with the first test of that renewed commitment. A victory would strengthen his position among the heavyweight contenders and reward the changes he made before returning to the ring.
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Last Updated on 2026/07/27 at 10:50 PM
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