Anthony Joshua conqueror Andy Ruiz Jr opens up on fighting 12 year olds when he was just seven because he was so chubby
ANDY RUIZ JR has revealed he started boxing at the age of seven - but was made to fight 12-year-olds because he was so chubby.
The Mexican is believed to be closing in on his rematch against Anthony Joshua after shocking the sport back in June.
Ruiz Jr became the unified heavyweight world champ in June when he stopped Joshua in the seventh round after dropping him FOUR times.
And the 19st 31-year-old has reached the top the hard way after a tough introduction to the sport.
Ruiz has revealed that his very first fight, aged seven, saw him square off against a 12-year-old boy as he was far to big for children of his own age.
Speaking on the , the WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight champ said: “I first started training when I was six years old and I trained for a whole year.
"And when I was seven years old I had my first amateur fight.
“I was always this big chubby kid where there wasn’t people at my age at that weight so I always had to fight bigger guys, older guys.
A CLUMSY KID
“My first fight I won but they gave it to the other guy, a 12-year-old fighting a seven-year old.
“I got robbed, I feel I did."
Ruiz went on to have an extensive amateur career clocking up 105 victories with only five losses.
As a pro he has 33 wins, 21 by KO, with just one defeat - that coming against New Zealand's Joseph Parker on points.
His nickname as "The Destroyer" was not even given to him because of his punching power, but because he was so clumsy as a kid he always broke his toys.
Ruiz said: "They called me the Destroyer because I was always destroying stuff. They'd buy me a toy and the next day I would break it.”
Quietly he built a career in the pro game and had climbed up the rankings just enough to be pencilled in for a WBO world title eliminator against Hughie Fury in 2016 - only for it to be cancelled.
It was always, 'yeah, he's a fat slob but his hands are so fast'
Promoter Bob Arum
He went on to challenge then-WBO champ Parker in December of the same year, but lost on a narrow majority decision in New Zealand.
That left him well away from being considered as a genuine candidate for any of the world titles over the past few years as Joshua, Wilder an Tyson Fury all vied for the crown as the best on the planet.
Promoter Bob Arum said: "Even though he was winning, nobody would credit him as being legitimate because he looked like a slob - it was always, 'Yeah, he's a fat slob but his hands are so fast'.
“But he wasn't pleasing when he fought."
In a desperate attempt to force his way into the reckoning Ruiz embarked on a diet, losing a stone-and-a-half by ditching the takeaways he loved.
He said: "A lot of stuff, all the fast food, the cheap food, the dollar menu - I had to cut all that off.
"You can train so hard and eat bad stuff and you're training for no reason."
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Ruiz was left outside the top 15 in the world rankings, hoping for the chance to take on a name to throw himself back into the mix.
Even he was surprised when he got the call from the Joshua camp at six weeks' notice following Jarrell Miller's failed drugs tests.
But it was the opportunity he had been waiting for to prove he could be the the main man - and despite his tubby frame he delivered when it mattered most to sit on top of the world.
