Andy Ruiz Jr. couldn't help but be reminded of his mammoth June 2019 upset of Anthony Joshua when watching Tyson Fury's destruction of Deontay Wilder last weekend.
Why? Well, because both boxers delivered a shot near the temple to throw his opponent's equilibrium off, and it happened in the third round of each fight. Ruiz stunned Joshua with a left hook to the head, and Joshua's legs weren't the same after that, as Ruiz delivered four knockdowns and an eventual seventh-round TKO. Fury blasted Wilder with a shot to the ear that seemed to have the same effect, as the "Gypsy King" earned a seventh-round TKO himself.
"I actually had flashbacks to my last fight on June 1," Ruiz said on the set of "PBC on Fox" about how he felt watching Fury-Wilder. "It was kind of similar like that, and it was in the same round as well. That's pretty crazy.
"After that hit in the ear, (Wilder) didn't recover from that," Ruiz added moments later. "His legs were weak, they were wobbly. Even the other punches that he tried to throw, they didn't have a lot of power in them. I think Tyson Fury did an awesome job. I was really shocked because I thought Wilder was going to win."
Like other boxers and pundits alike, Ruiz proceeded to scoff at Wilder's post-fight statement that his heavy ring attire gave him dead legs that helped seal his fate in the seventh-round TKO loss to Fury.
Ruiz also maintained that he'd like a crack at Fury with the WBC title on the line.
The 30-year-old Ruiz (33-2, 22 KOs) hasn't fought since losing the unified heavyweight championship back to Joshua via a unanimous decision loss in December. He additionally told "PBC on FOX" that he's eyeing an August return to the ring.