Andy Ruiz Jr in talks to face Charles Martin in October

So much for Luis Ortiz or Dillian Whyte in September. ESPN KnockOut’s Salvador Rodriguez reports that former unified champion Andy Ruiz Jr is in talks to face IBF #2 Charles Martin in October, and said talks could come to fruition in the coming days.

As Rodriguez points out, this matchup would pit Ruiz (34-2, 22 KO) against former trainer Manny Robles, whom he threw under the bus and fired after his disastrous rematch against Anthony Joshua. The Robles-trained Martin (28-2-1, 25 KO) is 3-0 since a competitive loss to Adam Kownacki in 2018 and was last seen stopping Gerald Washington in February 2020.

I will note that the lengthy layoff is not entirely outside of “Prince’s” control, as he reportedly turned down a final eliminator against Michael Hunter earlier this year. It’s unclear whether this would be an eliminator; Martin’s the highest-ranked contender after Hunter got booted from the rankings for passing on a fight with Filip Hrgovic, while Ruiz is ranked eighth.

Martin’s a big boy at 6’5” and can thump, but Ruiz figures to be a very comfortable favorite if they get the matchup over the finish line. It is, however, a semi-meaningful heavyweight fight, which we’re quite short on at the moment.