World heavyweight boxing champion Andy Ruiz Jr has reportedly piled on the pounds and missed the start of his training camp ahead of his rematch with Anthony Joshua later this year.
Ruiz, who has been criticised throughout his 33-1 career for his weight issues, stunned the boxing world in June when he knocked out Joshua to win the WBO, WBA and IBF titles.
A rematch was organised soon after with the sequel set to take place on December 7 in Saudi Arabia, but the Mexican-American boxer faces a gruelling four months, his trainer Manny Robles said.
Robles told ESPN the duo were beginning their training this week but thing's haven't gotten off to a smooth start.
"I was hoping it would be [Monday] but it wasn't, so we're definitely working on that right now. We didn't have a training session [Monday], but we're scheduled to start training this week.
"He's not in great shape, but he's hitting the gym back home in Imperial. He's running the treadmill, but obviously we haven't fully begun training camp.
"Once we do we have [close to] four months to get ready for a fight. That's enough time to get him in shape. Let's hope we can get him back in the gym real soon and get him going again."
The revelations come days after fellow heavyweight and former champion Tyson Fury claimed Ruiz hadn't trained in two months in an interview with YouTube boxing channel Behind the Gloves.
"If Andy Ruiz comes in, in-shape and has trained, then I think he does the same again. But one thing I know is AJ trains hard and he dedicates his life to boxing.
"I know that Ruiz has been running around in a lot of Rolls Royces and doing a lot of TV shows, eating a lot of tacos and he's not been in the gym for two-and-a-half months, because I've been speaking to the guys and nobody's seen him.
"He's won one fight, big deal - if he doesn't sacrifice and dedicate himself to the gym, he'll be smashed in the rematch."
SHARE ME