I think he'd fit right in, he'd probably do even better thanin his current era, win a belt and defend it 2-3 times, but like a lot of other 80's heavyweights his lack of training and coming in way overweight would be his downfall. I like Andy though, he seems like the type of guy to have a few beers and shoot the **** with.
Um the 80's were a much better era for heavyweights compared to this era. Most of the guys now aren't really skilled and they are overweight. I can't think of one top 50 guy from the 80's who was as fat as Andy Ruiz. Andy Ruiz would of done far worse in that era. He would of never held any title and would of probably be a journeyman level fighter.
The AJ that Ruiz beat, and lost to, was no better than a whole batch of 80s contenders. I'd pick 'Spoon, Pinklon, Tucker and Tubbs to beat him. I wouldn't rule out Bonecrusher, Spinks, Page, Weaver, Truth, maybe even Berbick against the versions of AJ that Ruiz fought. Andy's rep is getting massively inflated for beating AJ. I've said before, he was about 60lbs overweight, at least, and had 33 fights in 10 years when he first faced AJ. Neither his weight nor his career long level of inactivity is ideal. I think we need to be realistic as to just how good that fighter was in the ring with Joshua. Unfortunately, in doing so, fans of AJ have to face a slightly uncomfortable truth too.
And none of those guys in the 80s were able to accomplish what Joshua has. Ruiz fought Parker on even terms on the road in his his other title shot. He doesn't suck.
I thought we were busy pretending that tier 2 80s heavyweights were royalty and that Ruiz and Joshua weren’t worthy.