Andy Ruiz vs. Jarrell Miller: Staying Solvent, Pleasing Turki

Let’s cut the BS. Andy Ruiz and Jarrell Miller have both been cringe-worthy f*ck-ups.

As such, the most intriguing angle for fans, when it comes to their upcoming bout, revolves around which of them has the wherewithal to pull themselves out of the sad sack purgatory they’ve forced themselves into over the last several years.

Part of the Saudi Riyadh Season card this Saturday, August 3 at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, the Ruiz-Miller heavyweight bout would be considered a “last chance” for both– if such a thing existed in this boxing world right now. The desperation for heavyweights with name value means that, unless they deeply offend the sensibilities of chief Saudi sportswasher and wannabe boxing dictator Turki Alalshikh, both will be brought “back” over and over until people get sick of seeing them.

Well, it should be clarified that they’ll be brought back over and over again if they don’t drift off into indulgence and general indifference, which has been an issue with both over the years.

Ruiz and Miller have been frustrating to watch as they’ve muddled their way through stop-and-start careers as two of the biggest names in a diminished American heavyweight boxing scene.

Andy Ruiz: From Feel-Good To Cringe-Worthy

Ruiz’s June, 2019 upset of Anthony Joshua– only made possible due to original Joshua foe, Miller, testing positive for multiple banned substances– was a Rocky story comes to life. The Mexican-American’s touching post-fight “We don’t have to struggle anymore, Momma” was one of those ATG boxing moments

But it only took a few weeks to turn the ultimate feel-good Rocky story into a sad boxing cliché.

Following a whirlwind of attention, Ruiz’s hard-partying ways took hold. His indulgences made it utterly impossible to defend his title in a December rematch with Joshua. A pudgy, out of shape Ruiz would be picked and pawed to a unanimous decision defeat by a cautious, on-his-horse Joshua in Saudi Arabia.

After the loss, Ruiz would disappear for 18 months. Then, he beat Chris Arreola in a “meh” performance. Then, he took 16 months off before decisioning Luis Ortiz in another “meh” performance. By this coming fight night, Ruiz will have been off 23 months since the Ortiz bout, although having rotator cuff surgery is a mitigating factor in his inactivity this time around.

Still, a pattern has developed in the professional life of Andy Ruiz. He just doesn’t seem to care all that much and will drift away once his pockets are full again.

Each loss/bad showing/stretch of inactivity is followed by what appears to be a sincere recognition of his flaws as a human being and acknowledgment that he’s learned his life lessons. Then, he just goes out and does the same stuff.

When right, Ruiz is sharp, boxing-smart, and fearless. He’s at his absolute best when he’s in the heat of battle, when his natural warrior instincts kick in on autopilot. When he has time to think, though, he becomes his lesser self– both inside and outside the ring.

Jarrell Miller: Big (Juiced) Baby

Miller, meanwhile, is Andy Ruiz, just without any feel-good story and without any actual proven next-level ring performances– plus, with lots of performance enhancing drugs having run through his system.

Without digging into the history books for confirmation, it’s safe to make the half-hunch statement that Miller has probably tested positive for more banned substances, on more occasions, than anyone else in combat sports history.

Ahead of his scheduled bout with Joshua in 2019, Miller tested positive for EPO, HGH and GW1516. In a slated comeback fight versus Jerry Forrest the following year, he tested positive once again for the power and enduring-enhancing drug, GW1516. Miller even tested positive in his prior career as a kick boxer, popping dirty in 2014 for the banned substance methylhexaneamine.

A 330 lb.-plus “Big Baby” would subsequently find boxing work on the Middle East circuit, where names/bodies are needed and nobody seems to care all that much about anything other than getting fights in the ring.

Last year, Miller registered a six-round TKO win over Lucas Browne in Dubai and got stopped in ten by Daniel Dubois in Saudi Arabia. What the two fights had in common was a wildly out-of-shape Miller who looked decent for the few seconds he wasn’t huffing and puffing for oxygen.

Ruiz vs. Miller: The Fight to Please Turki

If social media photos are to be believed, both Ruiz and Miller have worked themselves into good shape (for them) ahead of this bout on the Terence Crawford-Israil Madrimov undercard this Saturday. The temporary dedication may have more to, though, with keeping Saudi fight card gigs coming than with a desire to give themselves a competitive edge.

And that’s, ultimately, the high-stakes incentive involved in somewhat of a low-stakes mid-card bout, where both fighters, realistically, will be around for as long as they choose to.

At 34 and 36, respectively, Ruiz and Miller– who are good friends in real life– need some real nest egg money for their bills (and their indulgences) and the well is running dry when it comes to boxing business people who will give them significant paydays at this point. Having money marks like the Saudis bankrolling your late-stage career is a little like a faded 45-year-old former beauty queen nabbing a generous sugar daddy.

Whether the winner of Ruiz vs. Miller moves on to do anything big in the sport from August 3 onward is a separate issue. What really matters is looking good enough to please Turki and to get another invite for some well-paying future gigs, earning well above their market value.