Andy Ruiz Jr was all the boxing world could talk about after his shock win against Anthony Joshua. Following his extraordinary triumph, he became the unified heavyweight champion of the world in 2019. This made him the first heavyweight of Mexican heritage to become the champion. However, he lost his belt in his next fight.

Following a lengthy hiatus, he returned and beat Chris Arreola, but now, he could be set for some more time away. As ‘The Destroyer‘ has been complaining about problems in his knee for the past three years, he underwent knee surgery on his right knee.

Per ESPN Deportes, Andy Ruiz Sr said, “They operated on his right knee, he had been struggling with that knee for about three years, he could not run very much, he could not do certain movements, he used gel and things like that to mitigate the pain, but recently it was not enough and he made the decision of the operation that was an arthroscopy and it was done by the same doctor who operated on Canelo, Pedro Lomeli.”  (h/t BoxingScene)

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Given a setback of this type, the biggest question on everyone’s mind will be regarding ‘The Destroyer’s return date.

When can Andy Ruiz Jr return?

Andy Ruiz Jr’s father and his trainers believe that they may be able to schedule a fight before the end of this year. Ruiz Sr expects the former champion to make a comeback to the ring in December this year.

Andy Ruiz looked set to face Charles Martin in October before he underwent knee surgery. After he recovers, he will look to fight the same opponent, unless Martin finds an opponent whilst ‘The Destroyer’ heals. The winner of that fight will be in a strong position for a title shot by 2022.

For Ruiz, it (a fight against any opponent) will be a must-win if he hopes to get a trilogy fight against Anthony Joshua. A loss would most probably mean that ‘The Destroyer’ will not get a third payday fight against the current champion.

Do you think Andy Ruiz Jr will be able to become the unified heavyweight champion of the world again?