Wilder vs Ruiz eliminator officially ordered by WBC
Deontay Wilder and Andy Ruiz Jr have been ordered to fight next with a WBC title shot at stake.
Deontay Wilder and Andy Ruiz Jr have officially received the expected final heavyweight eliminator order from the WBC, which does not guarantee that the fight will happen, but has been in the works for a bit now.
Wilder (43-2-1, 42 KO) and Ruiz (35-2, 22 KO) both recently scored WBC eliminator wins, Wilder on Oct. 15 with a first round knockout of Robert Helenius, and Ruiz on Sept. 4 with a narrow decision win over Luis Ortiz.
If both fighters and Premier Boxing Champions are, indeed, as on board with this as it has seemed the last couple of months, the fight will be easy to make, and could even be an actual moderate pay-per-view hit in early 2023, instead of simply “on pay-per-view.”
The WBC title, of course, is still held by Tyson Fury, who is set to face Derek Chisora in a third fight on Dec. 3, for reasons as simple as, “Because that’s what Fury wants to do right now.”
Fury has pretty openly noted that he’d be ready for a fourth Wilder fight if that’s what’s there later in 2023, and Wilder beating Ruiz could force just that.
Ruiz, 33, is best-known for his shocking win over Anthony Joshua in 2019, where he picked up the WBA, IBF, and WBO heavyweight titles, which he would lose back to Joshua six months later, showing up too heavy and just not in fighting shape. He’s bounced back with two straight wins over old heavyweights in Chris Arreola and the aforementioned Ortiz in 2021 and 2022.
Wilder, 37, had the two straight losses to Fury in 2020 and 2021, both stoppage defeats, and returned after a year out of the ring to smash Helenius in just under a round last month.
Who do you like if Wilder does indeed fight Ruiz next?