LOS ANGELES – Andy Ruiz Jr.’s quest to become a heavyweight champion once again will need some more work.
Ruiz battled it out with Jarrell Miller at BMO Stadium on Saturday to a majority draw. The fight started strong but slowed down considerably in the second half.
Miller outlanded Ruiz 183 to 113 and appeared to do enough to win the fight by also throwing 159 more punches, but he didn’t get the nod on the scorecards. Judges scored the fight 114-114 and 114-114, while a third had it 116-112 for Miller.
Ruiz (35-2-1, 22 KOs) ended a 23-month layoff to challenge Miller (26-1-2, 22 KOs), the man who was responsible for helping arrange his career-defining knockout win against Anthony Joshua in 2019 by failing a drug test and allowing Ruiz to step in as the replacement opponent for Joshua.
Miller looked much better than he did in his 10th-round technical knockout loss to Daniel Dubois in December, but he didn’t get the decision.
The fight started with spirit, though.
Ruiz ended a slow first round with a strong flurry in the waning seconds, clipping Miller with a lightning-fast and accurate right-left combo.
After landing just two punches in the first round, Miller made sure his activity mattered in the second, snapping a right hook to the side of Ruiz’s temple.
Miller increased the pressure and activity in the third and fourth, increasingly targeting the body of Ruiz. But Ruiz answered equally.
In the fifth round, however, Ruiz started to show signs of fatigue, as Miller mounted momentum with his consistent attack. In the final 10 seconds of the frame, Miller unleashed a heavy barrage of punches, rocking Ruiz as the bell sounded.
After the fight, Ruiz revealed that he hurt his hand in the round.
Miller sustained the attack in the sixth, but the action slowed considerably on both sides through the rest of the way.
Both the 274-pound Ruiz and 305-pound Miller were gassed and on cruise control, loading up with one punch at a time.
But Miller was the one who was mostly walking down Ruiz.
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.