Andy Ruiz Jr has seemingly confirmed he will fight heavyweight champion Tyson Fury on July 22 in the UK.
Ruiz, 33, hasn't competed in a world title fight since he lost his unified belts to Anthony Joshua in their 2019 rematch. Their second fight took place just six months after the Mexican-American shockingly stopped 'AJ' on a month's notice, handing the Brit his first professional defeat and capturing his world titles.
'The Destroyer' re-shared a post on his Instagram story that read "Tyson Fury vs Andy Ruiz Jr is official! July 22nd", with the caption also containing a United Kingdom emoji. It's expected the world title fight will take place at Wembley Stadium, with Fury last fighting at the venue when he knocked out Dillian Whyte last April in front of 94,000 fans.
Fury had teased a massive fight announcement two weeks ago but didn't reveal his opponent, stating: "I've got some massive, massive news coming. An imminent fight date, an absolutely monstrous fight. Keep tuned because the WBC world heavyweight king is back in action coming very, very soon. Peace out."
Who wins on July 22 - Tyson Fury or Andy Ruiz Jr? Let us know your prediction in the comments section below
'The Gypsy King' has been out of action since cruising to a stoppage win over familiar foe Derek Chisora in a heavily-questioned trilogy fight. Fury and Chisora already fought twice before, with the former comfortably winning both of their previous fights before ever getting his hands on a world title.
Ruiz took almost 18 months off after losing his belts to Joshua and put on an unconvincing performance in his May 2021 comeback fight against Chris Arreola. The former world champion hasn't fought since his decision win against Luis Ortiz last September, dropping the 44-year-old Cuban three times across the 12 rounds.
If things go to plan for Fury in his pencilled-in fight against Ruiz, he could be set for an undisputed title clash against Oleksandr Usyk in December after their April 29 meeting fell through. The historic event, which is targeted for Saudi Arabia, would be headlined by Anthony Joshua vs Deontay Wilder whilst Fury and Usyk would meet in the co-headliner.
Fury has dismissed reports of the illustrious four-man heavyweight tournament rumoured for December, writing on Instagram: "I can confirm that these rumours are absolute bulls***." Usyk's manager, Alex Krassyuk, has called Fury's bluff by claiming the Brit is the only fighter preventing the tournament from taking place.
