Andy Ruiz Jr names the hardest puncher he has shared the ring with

Andy Ruiz Jr has singled out the fighter who he believes to be the biggest hitter he has faced in his career.

Ruiz has had 38 professional fights to date, making his debut back in 2009 and slowly rising up the heavyweight ranks.

His first crack at world honours came when he faced Joseph Parker for the vacant WBO belt in December 2016, but he suffered a majority decision defeat.

In June 2019, Ruiz then stepped in on short notice to challenge unified world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, and recovered from an early knockdown to earn an upset seventh round TKO victory and become WBA, IBF and WBO champion.

He couldn’t keep hold of his titles though, as an immediate rematch six months later saw Ruiz out of shape and a lot heavier than their first bout. Joshua won by unanimous decision to win back his titles.

Ruiz has fought three more times since that Joshua defeat, securing wins over Chris Arreola and Luis Ortiz, before a controversial majority draw with Jarrell Miller last time out in August 2024.

Having shared the ring with some of the aforementioned big names, Ruiz revealed that he deemed Joshua to be the biggest puncher he faced.

“It was Anthony Joshua because he’s the only one that knocked me down.”

Joshua’s power is clear to see, with 26 of his 29 victories coming by knockout against the likes of Wladimir Klitschko, Alexander Povetkin and Dillian Whyte, but Ruiz also revealed where he feels ‘AJ’ struggles.

“He opens up a lot, he holds back a lot because there’s a lot of times where he hurts somebody and then he goes for the kill and he gets knocked the f**k out, so that kind of f**ks with your head.”

After nearly 18 months out of the ring, it’s currently unknown when the Mexican American will return, having been linked to a number of big names recently.