Andy Ruiz has apparently not ruled out the idea of working again with esteemed trainer Eddy Reynoso.

The former heavyweight champion from Imperial, California is preparing for his pay-per-view fight with contender Luis Ortiz of Cuba on Sept. 4 at crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, but he will do so without Reynoso, best known as the trainer of Canelo Alvarez.

Ruiz parted ways with Reynoso earlier this year, opting to train under Alfredo Osuna.

Ruiz has not been alone in his defection from the Reynoso camp. Widely regarded as one of the sport’s top trainers, Reynoso, who runs a gym in San Diego, has seen his stable thin in recent months. Most notably, lightweight Ryan Garcia left Reynoso, followed by heavyweight Frank Sanchez.

While Reynoso may have something of an icy relationship with Garcia, who has been engaged in something of a war of words with Alvarez in recent days, Ruiz made it clear in a recent interview that he thinks highly of his former trainer–enough, apparently to float the possibility that they may work together down the line.

“I know Eddie’s not gonna be in this camp, but in the future I’m sure he is,” Ruiz told FightHype.com. “He’s really a good guy, nice guy, who really helped me out a lot.”

“I appreciate every single trainer that I’ve had,” continued Ruiz, who has been trained by Manny Robles in the past. “I’ve learned from all of them.”

Ruiz has fought only once since coming up short against Anthony Joshua in their heavyweight title rematch in Saudi Arabia in 2019. Ruiz fought veteran Chris Arreola last May, winning a 12-round unanimous decision at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.

Ruiz (34-2, 22 KOs) expects his bout with the southpaw Ortiz (33-2, 28 KOs) to be a come-forward affair.

“The main thing is to just training hard, bro,” Ruiz said. “Training hard and being cautious, throwing my combinations, covering up, making him miss, making him pay. Just a lot of stuff like that.

“We just gotta be smart. If we’re gonna be aggressive, we got be smart and pick our shots. And if we’re gonna be punching around, counter punching and using speed and explosiveness. Luis Ortiz comes forward and I come forward so I’m pretty sure there’s gonna be a lot of bombs thrown.”