Mexican boxer Andy Ruiz on September 17, 2023.

Seven years ago, Andy Ruiz Jr. became the toast of boxing when he stopped Anthony Joshua in an all-time classic brawl.

From that night on, Ruiz's career has endured frequent stops and team changes. Most importantly, his inability to stay in shape became problematic. Ruiz needed to grind to a majority draw in his last fight.

As his career nears its conclusion, Ruiz aims to return to the qualities that once made him a champion. In his next fight, he faced Damian Knyba. At 36 years old, every fight matters for Ruiz, who literally cannot afford any more lackluster performances. On a pride level, he wants to prove it was not a fluke, and he chooses to add to his legacy.

To assist Ruiz in regaining his footing, the former champion rejoined forces with his previous trainer, Manny Robles. Ruiz believes the move puts him in a far better position in terms of discipline.

"I had to go back to Manny because he's the one who got me to where I made history. We're going to do it again," Ruiz told The Ring. I was training myself to my own understanding in the fights before. When you're just alone, and you're controlling your whole training camp, you slack off, and you don't do the right thing. So that's one of the reasons why I looked bad. Now that I'm with Manny, I'm going to be awesome."

From the outside, boxing appears to be a battle of toughness, where insecurities fade away. Yet, as Ruiz points out, being in a great mental place matters almost as much as the physical aspect. He credits Robles for helping him refocus.

"A lot of people don't know the struggles that us fighters have, not just inside the ring, but outside of the ring. I had to take a little time off. I had to get that hunger back. I had to be with my family. I think every fighter should take little breaks like that. But maybe not too long."

To say Knyba is a massive roadblock, literally and figuratively, is an understatement. Standing at six-foot-seven, the 30-year-old owns a 12-inch reach advantage over Ruiz, as well as five inches in height. As a result, Ruiz needs to find a way to drive inside the punches and attack the body.

Ruiz is starting the long road back to the mainstream, and doing it by signing a multi-fight deal with Matchroom. With Eddie Hearn behind him, the former heavyweight champion hopes that Knyba is the first step.