‘I am surprised him and his advisers have taken it’: Tyson Fury’s trainer says Deontay Wilder should forget about trilogy fight and instead face Andy Ruiz
- Tyson Fury’s trainer is ‘surprised’ Deontay Wilder has triggered rematch clause
- Fury defeated Wilder with a seventh round stoppage in a dominant display
- Andy Ruiz has not fought since his loss to Anthony Joshua in Saudi Arabia
- Joshua has confirmed he will be fighting Kubrat Pulev on June 20 in the UK
Tyson Fury‘s trainer and former world Champion Andy Lee has advised Deontay Wilder to not enter the ring with Fury for the third time and instead fight Andy Ruiz.
Fury defeated Wilder in a rematch to claim the WBC heavyweight belt from the ‘Bronze Bomber’ with a seventh round stoppage in Las Vegas after their draw back in November. Wilder has since triggered the rematch clause in his contract to have a trilogy fight with the ‘Gypsy King’.
Lee, who is the cousin of Tyson Fury, is shocked with the decision from Wilder to trigger the trilogy bout after the manner of his defeat back in February.
Tyson Fury’s trainer Andy Lee has advised Deontay Wilder to not have a trilogy fight with Fury
Wilder was convincingly beaten by Fury who claimed his WBC heavyweight belt in Las Vegas
Lee thinks Wilder should fight Andy Ruiz instead who recently lost to Anthony Joshua
‘I am surprised him and his advisers have taken it. I’m sure his ego wants that fight. I think there should be someone saying let’s fight Ruiz or somebody else and come back and fight Tyson again. Let him build a little bit more,’ Lee said to Boxing Social.
‘But a champion wants to get it back straight away and he’s got that champion mind-set. He has made excuses but who knows what was really going on when he was training for the fight. Maybe it will be a better performance, but I just can’t see how he’s going to change that. Tyson’s only going to get better at what he’s doing.’
Andy Ruiz has not fought since his rematch with Anthony Joshua back in December, where he lost the WBA, WBO, IBO and IBF heavyweight belts in Saudi Arabia. He initially shocked the whole division with a TKO victory against the 30-year-old ‘AJ’ at Madison Square Garden last summer.
Lee explained that he was suprised Wilder’s advisers have let him trigger his rematch clause
Ruiz hasn’t fought since he lost four belts against Joshua in their rematch in Saudi Arabia
Joshua has since confirmed he will be fighting IBF mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev in June
Joshua, meanwhile, has confirmed he will be fighting Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev, the IBF’s mandatory challenger, at Tottenham Hotspur’s 62,000-seater stadium on June 20. The two were meant to fight back in 2017 but Pulev pulled out through injury.
There had been suggestions of a unification fight between Joshua and Fury in an all-UK bout, but Wilder’s rematch clause and mandatory challengers has meant the British fans will have to wait longer for the jaw-dropping prospect of AJ and Fury scrapping it out to unify the division.
Ruiz, who has a record of 22-1-0, praised Fury for his ‘awesome’ performance at the MGM Grand against Wilder.
‘I think Tyson Fury did what he had to do, he stuck to the game-plan. I’m pretty sure he could do it again and I could do it too so, if they pick me, I’m here and I’m ready,’ Ruiz said.
‘(Wilder’s) legs were weak, they were wobbly, even other punches that he tried to throw, they didn’t have a lot of power so I think Tyson Fury did an awesome job. I was really shocked because I thought Deontay Wilder was going to win.’
Wilder’s rematch with Fury is likely to take place in July back in Las Vegas.