Tyson Fury Rants Andy Ruiz Demanded $20 Million To Fight Him
There’s rarely much time that goes by before unbeaten WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury will speak his mind. And, that was the case again on Thursday, when he decided to rant about why no one is fighting him, as of yet, for this Summer. And in specific, he called out former unified heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz for demanding too much money for a possible title fight.
The “Gypsy King” took to social media and made clear he wants to fight one of the top heavyweights and soon,
“WHOEVER’S OUT THERE, I’M F*CKING YOU UP”
Tyson Fury has returned to social media 🍿
🎬 @Tyson_Fury #TysonFury | #BoxingFans pic.twitter.com/aQn8HRckTh
— IFL TV (@IFLTV) May 18, 2023
“Just want to say to everybody: I want to knock all these mother-f&%kers out. I’m ready to rumble. I’ve not fought since December for no fault of me own. I’ve tried to fight f&*cking midget (Oleksandr) Usyk,” Fury said on Instagram.
“He’s not wanted anything. I’ve tried to fight A.J. (Anthony Joshua). He don’t want no ‘smoke.’… Andy Ruiz has asked for $20 million. Silly little bastard. I don’t know where he’s getting that from? Who’s out there?! Who’s available?! (Zhilei) Zhang?! He was a good looking fight, but (Joe) Joyce wants his rematch. That’s not happening now. So, I’m looking to fight anybody, anytime, anywhere.”
The Heavyweight List
Fury is first referencing the failed negotiations with unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk, as the two could not agree to terms for a late April fight for the undisputed four belt championship. The talks reportedly fell apart, as Fury continue to demand concessions on a possible rematch and the split of the money.
It appears now Usyk will instead fight his WBA mandatory challenger, Englishman Daniel Dubois later this Summer. Fury is also making reference to having to wait to fight China’s Zhang, who pulled an upset of another Englishman in Joyce by knockout back in April. Joyce has exercised his contractual rematch clause and thus, it has ended hopes for now of a Fury-Zhang match later in the year.
One interesting twist is: Joyce is promoted by Frank Warren of Queensberry, who also promotes Fury, and there could be a “step aside” negotiation that allows Fury and Zhang to still happen.
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But, probably most intriguing is the Fury claim that the Californian Ruiz’s asking price was in the neighborhood of $20 million. Ruiz is best known for his stunning KO of the former unified champion Joshua in June of 2019. However, he turned right around and lost the title in a one-sided decision back to Joshua six months later.
Ruiz has only had two fights since the Joshua loss, beating aged veterans Chris Arreola and Luis Ortiz both decision.
Meanwhile, Fury has defended his WBC title twice both coming last year in KOs of fellow countrymen Dillian Whyte and Derek Chisora.
Why Ruiz Wants Big Money
As for the Ruiz, that price demand is related to the guaranteed money that former WBC champion Deontay Wilder got when Fury defeated Wilder twice by knockout. Wilder reportedly received more than $20 million guaranteed for both of their fights in 2020 and 2021.
However, when Fury fought Whyte and Chisora, they made nowhere near half of that money for their title challenges. So for now, we’re left with Fury ranting online about wanting to fight someone at some point this Summer.
