Former WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight beltholder Andy Ruiz Jnr has revealed his respect for Jake Paul while also declaring he would knock out the MVP boss inside three rounds - should an unlikely fight between them ever occur.
Paul this week declared that due to the ferocity of the beating he took at the hands of Anthony Joshua he may not fight again. Though Paul, 12-2 (7 KOs), lasted longer than many expected when he answered the bell for the sixth round, he did not hear the bell for the seventh, having been knocked out and left with a badly broken jaw. Ruiz split two fights with Joshua in 2019, sensationally stopping him in seven rounds before being widely outpointed in the immediate rematch.
"I think [Paul] was just surviving [against Joshua]. I think Jake Paul went in there thinking he could take him out in the first, second, or third round. But like Mike Tyson says, everybody has a plan until they get hit,” Ruiz told casino.org/us
“But he did his thing. Who else is gonna jump in there with Anthony Joshua? Just because AJ has been beat by elite fighters, it doesn't mean he's not dangerous. Every man that's 200-and-something pounds is dangerous.
“With his fight against Anthony Joshua, Jake was thinking about AJ's loss against me, that the one against Usyk, so he was like, 'maybe I have a chance'. But he had courage and he had faith and he had balls to get in that ring. So like I said, not a lot of people could do that.”
Regardless of falling short against Joshua in December, Ruiz championed the man who first made his name as a ‘YouTuber’ for his impact in the sport.
“I think Jake is doing a good job,” said Ruiz, 35-2-1 (22 KOs). “If influencers and YouTubers are all fighting, they are making boxing more relevant.”
“I think Jake Paul is helping, and that motherfucker, he's a real athlete. There's no YouTuber that I've seen that has changed his profession and became a real professional fighter like him, and gave all the dedication, hard work, and sacrificed so many things.”
“To be fighting Anthony Joshua is huge, even though he got beat up and his jaw broken. But through all the years that he's been planning this, it finally happened and it paid off for him. So I have no hate against Jake Paul.”
Ruiz, plotting a comeback after being out of the ring for almost two years, does not entertain the notion of fighting Paul – not really, at least. Should it somehow happen, however, Ruiz explained why he would score a straightforward victory.
“I think it would be an amazing fight (Andy Ruiz vs Jake Paul), but I know he wouldn't fight me. He knows the skills that I have. He knows the Mexican style that I have. But if we did fight, I think it would only last like 3 rounds because all I'm gonna do is pressure, pressure, and throw combinations.”
