Abel Sanchez, the former trainer for former unified heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz, does not expect the Mexican boxer to fight someone like Deontay Wilder in the near future.
Ruiz captured the IBF, WBA, WBO, IBO titles back in June of 2019, when he shocked the world by stopping Anthony Joshua in seven rounds.
Joshua reclaimed the titles six months later, when he outboxed Ruiz over twelve rounds.
Ruiz, with new trainer Eddy Reynoso, returned to the ring in May - and won a tough decision over countryman Chris Arreola. But during the fight, Arreola had his own share of success as Ruiz was rocked and dropped.
Wilder was scheduled to challenge WBC world champion Tyson Fury on July 24.
The fight was pushed back when Fury tested positive for COVID-19.
Both sides are now looking to reschedule the fight to date in October.
In recent interviews, Ruiz has mentioned his desire to face top names - like Wilder.
Sanchez does not believe that.
"He doesn’t want to fight Wilder. He’ll be flat on his back and will be hurt. Tyson Fury is a special talent. Andy Ruiz is not yet," Sanchez told Fight Hub.
"Wilder can do the same thing Arreola did [in dropping Ruiz], but it would be ten times harder, and he’ll be sleeping."
Sanchez is hoping that Reynoso will continue to improve Ruiz and make him a top heavyweight.
He says Ruiz will have to train in the same exact manner as Reynoso's top student - Saul "Canelo" Alvarez.
"I hope he’s going to continue the discipline with Eddy. If Eddy can get it out of him, I think he’ll make him a better fighter. Right now, he’s still marginal. In today’s boxing, and in athletics, whether it’s football, baseball or boxing, you can’t train for two months, and then take two months off and go party, get fat and go back and do it again,' Sanchez said.
"That’s been his MO, and that just cannot be. He’s got to get right back in the gym, just like Canelo does. Every time you see Canelo fight, he’s right back in the gym the next week. That’s the modern athlete - that’s what the athlete has to do. If Andy chooses not to do that, then it’s going to be the same Andy all the time.
"No improvement, no further development. He’s not that hard to hit, and he wasn’t hard to hit in my gym. He’s got fast hands and great skills. Those two things are not going to make you a world champion again. He caught Joshua on an off night, and he had the best night that he could ever have, and he became champion. I hope that he doesn’t expect it to be that easy again."