Eddy Reynoso says Andy Ruiz Jr needs discipline, but he would love to work with him

Former heavyweight titleholder Andy Ruiz Jr is on the hunt for a new trainer, having parted ways with Manny Robles following Ruiz’s December loss to Anthony Joshua in Saudi Arabia.

There has been a lot of talk about a new cornerman for Ruiz, which there would be; it’s a big job, in more ways than one. It’s a chance for a trainer to work with a guy who has a name in heavyweight boxing and remains, for now, a contender. It’s also a task, because Ruiz (33-2, 22 KO) is known for not always taking training seriously.

Teddy Atlas has expressed interest, but the main focus now seems to be on Eddy Reynoso, a rising superstar trainer who works with Canelo Alvarez, of course, and also the likes of Ryan Garcia, Luis Nery, Julio Cesar Martinez, and Oscar Valdez. Ruiz and Reynoso have expressed a mutual interest, and Reynoso reiterated that interest in an appearance on Matchroom’s “Peleamundo” with Jessie Vargas.

“I’d love to work with such a charismatic Mexican fighter like Ruiz,” Reynoso said on the show. “It would be a proud moment as a trainer.”

He’s also, of course, fully aware that Ruiz has not always been a trainer’s dream, to say the last.

“He needs to work on discipline,” Reynoso stressed. “Once you get to world championship level, you can’t lack discipline. I would have him work on moving his waist more and his counter punch. It would be work on his punches, keeping them short. Those are things I think would benefit him and bring him to the next level.”

No trainer-fighter partnership is ever guaranteed to work, and with Ruiz, there’s a heightened risk of none of them quite working out as they could. But Reynoso seems as good a pick as anyone could be; he’s in his prime as a trainer, he’s been very successful, and he might be the sort who can get something more from Ruiz. He also seems the sort to break it off if things don’t go well, and that’s also a level of reality Ruiz might benefit from having in camp, the idea that he’s got a trainer who won’t hesitate to leave if Andy doesn’t work his hardest.