Who’s Sorry Now?
By William Trillo
You had your way,
Now you must pay,
I’m glad that you’re sorry now….
It was no sooner than soon to be ex-Heavyweight champ spit his mouthpiece to the deck and then have the referee wave off the fight giving huge (no pun intended) underdog Andy Ruiz the victory that I could hear Connie Francis singing her classic tune, “Who’s Sorry Now?” I know it’s hard to believe but that’s just the way my brain works…everything gets a soundtrack.
In this case the tune wasn’t rattling around in my head because of Ruiz’s unexpected KO over Anthony Joshua. For that matter it wasn’t for poor Joshua either. But as I saw Joshua standing there in the corner with his arms stretched across the ropes there were quite a few folks in boxing that came to mind as I heard Connie croon away. I wondered to myself how sorry they must be.
Those in question would be:
Chris Arreola: It was always assumed that Arreola was going to be the first Mexican Heavyweight Champion of the World. This should have been Arreola’s night. Chris should have been the first Mexican to buckle that Heavyweight Championship belt around his waist. But due to an admitted weakness for Burritos and Beer Arreola’s waist line ballooned and there wasn’t a belt on the planet that would fit. The truth is it’s really a shame. But as I have stated in the past, The pain of regret lasts a lot longer than the pain of discipline.
Dominic Breazeale: In late July of 2018 I went on assignment to The Legends Boxing Club in Norwalk, California to watch an open workout of an up and coming fighter. Working out in another ring that day were top heavyweight contenders Andy Ruiz and Dominic Breazeale. They were both under the tutelage of Manny Robles who is becoming one of the go to trainers in Southern California. I find it somewhat of a coincidence that they both ended up fighting for a version of The Heavyweight titles just days apart. The difference here was that for whatever reason Breazeale packed his bags and headed north to work with Virgil Hunter. Ruiz stayed with Robles. Breazeale had no gameplan and was embarrassed inside of one round by a thunderous Deontay Wilder. Ruiz, as we know, dropped Joshua four times and took the title. Do with that information as you will.
Eddie Hearn/Matchroom: Moments after Anthony Joshua’s shocking loss at the hands of newly crowned Champion Andy Ruiz Hearn said, “AJ will be back” over and over again. Hearn was obviously stunned and at a loss for words. What else could he say? Hearn made it clear there was a rematch clause in place and was already announcing that fight would take place in the U.K. sooner rather than later. Later that evening at the post fight press conference Hearn sounded a bit more realistic about his fighter when he said, “This will eat him up bad. Some fighters lose and fight back; some never come back the same.” Hearn might want to get a bit more realistic when talking about an immediate rematch. With Al Haymon controlling not only Ruiz but the entire heavyweight division it won’t be all that surprising to see Haymon stonewall Hearn and put that rematch off until somewhere around the twelfth of never.
Bob Arum/Top Rank: Whether it was a lack of commitment at a certain stage of his career or not Ruiz has always displayed the talent and skill to perform on a world class level. Bob Arum knew that and that is why he signed him back in the day. How and why Arum let Ruiz go to his arch nemesis Al Haymon is anyone’s guess but you have to imagine there was a little bit of egg on Bob’s face when he woke up Sunday morning.
DAZN: I must admit I don’t know a lot about the finances involved in boxing promotion but no matter how hard I try I can’t figure out how DAZN is going to pay these huge contracts fighters like Joshua and Canelo have in place with them. Whether it’s $9.99 per month or $99 per year for a subscription it seems the broadcast company is going to fall way short on funds. Especially now since their second biggest attraction has pulled up lame at the post. When I ran that thought by a respected boxing journalist he said, “Yeah, there is a bit of fools gold in play.” I also inquired with a part time boxing journalist and full time CPA, (he calls himself a Forensics Accountant). He said it smells of a Ponzi Scheme to him.
Yes, Ruiz shook up the boxing world this weekend and left many thinking about would should have or could have been.
The others are left wondering “what now?”
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