Andy Ruiz Jr. said he should have been more serious about his training moments after losing the unified world heavyweight championship to Anthony Joshua in their December rematch.
If the Mexican-American heavyweight is willing to show more discipline, he might be able to land one of the best trainers in boxing in Eddy Reynoso. The renowned trainer of boxing sensation Saul "Canelo" Alvarez recently told ESPN Deportes about his interest in training Ruiz as long as the heavyweight fully commits to the sweet science.
"Yes, of course, we are for that, to work, as long as there is discipline, that there is order," Reynoso said, as translated from Spanish.
"We are ready to work with any fighter, and we see, it would be a pride to also work with the first full weight champion that Mexico gave."
There's no doubting that Ruiz's quick hands make him stand out in the heavyweight division, but the 30-year-old was his own worst enemy vs. Joshua as he came into the rematch overweight and simply out of shape.
"There was always tomorrow, tomorrow," Ruiz said during the postfight press conference in December. "I should have taken this fight more seriously. Three months of partying and celebrating affected me. Being bigger and heavier, I thought was going to benefit me. It didn't. Being overweight, I thought I was going to be stronger. I should have trained harder and listened to my team."
The immediate aftermath of that embarrassing performance had Ruiz (33-2, 20 KOs) apologizing to his trainer Manny Robles for not being fully dedicated, before parting ways with the trainer the next month.
That creates the opening for Reynoso to possibly step in and assume the helm of Ruiz's training.
For what it's worth, Canelo and Ruiz seem to have a friendly rapport, as the boxing superstar visited Ruiz backstage prior to his loss to Joshua in December.