Dillian Whyte and Andy Ruiz landed on the same card for their last respective ring appearances.
Getting the two together in the same ring, however, has proven to be problematic, although it has made for entertaining—if not bizarre—social media banter along the way.
A war of words continues to rage on between the pair of top-rated heavyweight contenders, though seemingly no closer to evolving into an actual prizefight. Such a clash has been pursued by Eddie Hearn, Whyte’s promoter and whose Matchroom Boxing presented each of Ruiz’s two heavyweight title fights with the company’s star client Anthony Joshua.
Ruiz (33-2, 22KOs) scored a massive upset with a 7th round knockout of Joshua to become a unified heavyweight titlist last June in New York City. The rematch didn’t fare quite as well, with the Imperial, California-based Mexican heavyweight dropping a landslide 12-round decision in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The same card saw England’s Whyte (27-1. 18KOs) register a 10-round decision win over Mariusz Wach in a bout that was put together on short notice.
Hearn didn’t want to waste any time in putting together the next fight for the 32-year old contender from Brixton, England by way of Jamaica. It led to an attempt to putting together a fight between Whyte and Ruiz, though all that’s come of it to date has been a spirited exchange over the financial terms.
“I think Andy Ruiz might be another [former heavyweight champion James] 'Buster' Douglas," Whyte claimed in an interview with Hearn and Sky Sports’ Adam Smith on Matchroom Boxing’s YouTube channel. "Shine once, and that's it. The lifestyle that he's enjoyed because let's be honest, we offered him $5 million to fight me in America, in his hometown. He's turning down that kind of money to fight me, and all these other guys say I'm garbage.”
The claim caught the attention of Ruiz.
“Yo @DillianWhyte, stop clout chasing,” tweeted the former heavyweight titlist in dismissing the claim. “You never offered $5M #lies.”
Naturally, Whyte felt the need to counter.
“Fat boy @andy_destroyer1 stop talking sh-t,” stated the longtime top contender. “[F]acts are facts stop come on #ALLBELLYNOHEART.”
The childish trash talk—part of a steady stream of fat jokes to have come from Whyte, who weighed career-heaviest 271 pounds for his win over Wach—was accompanied by proof of the last offer to be made to Ruiz. However, it not only validated Ruiz’s claim but offering a little too much information in the proof he provided.
An email exchange between Hearn and Tom Brown, head of TGB Promotions who has represented Ruiz on behalf of Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) for both fights with Joshua and all bouts moving forward revealed an offer made of $4 million for the fight to take place in the United States.
Nothing has obviously come of it, as Whyte has since been paired with Russia’s Alexander Povetkin (35-2-1, 24KOs), a 2004 Olympic Gold medalist whose held a secondary title while twice challenging for the real thing. Their bout was due to take place May 2 but has since been postponed in wake of the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The Sky Sports Box Office headliner is now tabbed for July 4 in Manchester, England although a Ruiz showdown apparently remains worthy enough to revisit.
“We offered $4 million,” Hearn noted in a text exchange with Whyte, of which a screenshot was provided by the heavyweight himself. “You should go back and say, ‘sorry I checked with Eddie, we offered you $4m. Do we have a deal at $5m and I will get it done?’”
Ruiz has yet to attach his name to an actual fight so far in 2020. Rumors swirled of a potential clash with former three-time title challenger Chris Arreola. South talks of a mouthwatering pairing of Mexican-American heavyweights died down, however, once the boxing schedule was decimated by the ongoing global health crisis.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox