Deontay Wilder 'ready' to face Andy Ruiz Jr in heavyweight eliminator

‘I don’t duck no fights… they fear me’: Deontay Wilder responds to Andy Ruiz Jr callout and states he is ‘ready’ to battle the 32-year-old in a heavyweight eliminator for the right to meet Tyson Fury – or perhaps Anthony Joshua – for the WBC belt

  • Andy Ruiz Jr beat Luis Ortiz by unanimous decision in Los Angeles on Sunday
  • Afterwards he called out Deontay Wilder, who faces Robert Helenius next month
  • Wilder has responded by saying he is ready ‘whenever’ to face The Destroyer
  • If they did meet, the winner would become the WBC mandatory challenger
  • That would set up a blockbuster fight with Tyson Fury or even Anthony Joshua
  • Joshua has publicly accepted Fury’s offer of a December Battle of Britain 

Deontay Wilder says he is ready ‘whenever’ to face Andy Ruiz Jr, after The Destroyer called him out following victory over Luis Ortiz in a WBC heavyweight eliminator on Sunday.  

Ruiz knocked down Ortiz three times on the way to his win by unanimous decision in Los Angeles as Wilder watched on ringside. 

The Bronze Bomber, 36, has a heavyweight eliminator of his own against Finland’s Robert Helenius on October 15. 

Deontay Wilder is ready ‘whenever’ to face Andy Ruiz Jr, after The Destroyer called him out

Should he triumph, a meeting with Ruiz appears to be on the cards for the right to be the WBC mandatory challenger. 

‘God willing he [Wilder] wins against Robert in October,’ Ruiz, 32, said after his victory. ‘Me and him are in the same organisation, I want to thank Al Haymon, he can make this fight happen and let’s do it, let’s get it on.’

Wilder has responded, by telling Fight Hub TV: ‘I’m on a tear for whatever and whenever. Deontay Wilder is back, and I don’t duck no fights. 

‘If that’s [Ruiz] the most exciting fight after I handle business, so be it, let it be. I’m willing and ready and able. They all know that. Everybody in the heavyweight division knows what Deontay Wilder brings.

Wilder was ringside as Ruiz defeated Luis Ortiz in Sunday’s WBC heavyweight eliminator in LA

Ruiz knocked down Ortiz three times on the way to his victory by unanimous decision

Wilder, 36, has a heavyweight eliminator of his own against Robert Helenius on October 15

‘I’m willing to die for what I believe in, and that’s what I bring to the table. That being said, I’m ready to go. They fear me, I don’t fear them, and that’s the difference.

‘This second reign is all about me being happy, and that’s what I’m going to display in the ring. You can always expect great fights where you’re at the edge of your seats when Deontay Wilder gets in.’

Wilder has not fought since losing his trilogy fight against WBC champion Tyson Fury in October last year. 

But yet another meeting with The Gypsy King could now be on the cards – that’s if Fury is still WBC champion by the time Wilder and Ruiz go glove-to-glove. 

Fury handed Anthony Joshua a shock world title lifeline on Monday, challenging him to a December Battle of Britain.


Anthony Joshua has publicly accepted Tyson Fury’s offer of a December Battle of Britain

Wilder has not fought since losing his trilogy fight against WBC champion Fury last year

Joshua has since publicly accepted the offer and his promoter Eddie Hearn has spoken to Fury’s representatives, Frank Warren and his son George, to get the ball rolling on a potential fight.

Wilder and Joshua have been linked to a fight ever since they became world champions in 2015 and 2016 respectively. Following the Brit’s defeat to Oleksandr Usyk last month, it was suggested that a bout was closer than ever. 

But now it seems that the pair could have one more opponent each to defeat before they potentially meet in a blockbuster title fight. 




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