Former world heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz Jr. is optimistic about resuming his boxing career after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery. Doctors deemed the surgery a success. Ruiz is hoping to step into the ring as early as December.
The original plan was for Ruiz to face Charles Martin sometime in October. But the problems with his right knee made it to prepare. Ruiz and his team thought it best to finally complete a procedure the former champion put off for years.
“He had been struggling with that knee for about three years,” Andy Ruiz Sr. said of his son`s decision to undergo surgery on his right knee in Guadalajara, Mexico. The elder Ruiz also explained in more detail how the injury affected the former champion. “He could not run very much, he could not do certain movements.”
Ruiz´s father says his son used gel to mitigate the pain while training for fights. The gel was not very effective at stopping the pain, and Ruiz felt surgery was his best option.
Pedro Lomeli Jaime, a doctor that once completed a procedure on Canelo Alvarez, performed the surgery. The surgeon and a physical trainer told the Ruiz camp that the fighter could likely compete in December. However, Ruiz accepts the possibility that his ring return may not happen until 2022.
Andy Ruiz Jr. is now 34-2 with 22 knockouts. His last fight resulted in a 10 round unanimous decision victory over Chris Arreola in May. The 31-year-old became a unified world champion in June 2019 when he stopped Anthony Joshua in seven rounds. The win by Ruiz was one of the biggest upsets in heavyweight boxing history.
Ruiz lost the titles in a rematch with Joshua six months later. The loss prompted the fighter to end his relationship with longtime trainer Manny Robles. Ruiz now trains alongside Canelo Alvarez and Ryan Garcia in a camp headed by Eddie Reynoso.