By Miguel Maravilla
Former heavyweight world champion Andy Ruiz Jr. (34-2, 22 KO’s) of Imperial Valley, California returns to the ring in over year, this weekend as he takes on Luis “King Kong” Ortiz (33-2, 28 KO’s) of Cuba. Ruiz squares off against Ortiz this Sunday night at the Crypto Arena in Los Angeles headlining the FOX Sports Pay Per View.
In what will be Mexico vs. Cuba in the heavyweight division, Ruiz expects to bring it as this is the first time the respective nations will be going head-to-head in the heavyweight division in a fight of this magnitude.
Ruiz is coming off a unanimous decision over Chris Arreola last year in May in a fight that saw Ruiz get up from the canvas and pull of the decision. Not exactly the best of performances that night as he has been out of the ring for nearly a year. Prior to the Arreola fight, Ruiz had his period of inactivity dropping the unanimous decision to Anthony Joshua.
It has been over three years since Ruiz shocked the world by knocking out Joshua and winning the heavyweight titles at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
The journey continues as Ruiz held camp with his new trainer Rafael Osuna. Ruiz parted ways with Eddie Reynoso. Ruiz talked about the preparation under his new coach and how he has benefited in preparation for King Kong.
For his opponent, the Cuban heavyweight. Ortiz scored a knockout over former world champion Charles Martin early this year in a wild fight which saw Ortiz hit the canvas two times, before dropping Martin a pair of times in scoring the sixth-round knockout. Ortiz’s only two defeats came at the hands of Deontay Wilder for the heavyweight title.
What a wild ride it has been for the heavyweight division the last three years. From Ruiz’s knockout over Joshua, to Tyson Fury’s knockout wins over Deontay Wilder, and most recently Oleksandr Usyk’s wins over Anthony Joshua. With Fury’s semi-retirement, the WBC title is in limbo, as Usyk currently holds the WBO, WBA, and IBF titles. A win here, Ruiz will continue his run for a potential title shot as he understands the importance this fight represents.
With a win Sunday night against Ortiz, that will likely put Ruiz in contention for another world title shot down the line or a major fight. One thing is certain is that Ruiz will give and be in an action-packed fight and leave it all in the ring.
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I have info that Ruiz is in great shape. If this is true, Ruiz wins. If it is not, he loses.
What’s great shape for Ruiz? he always looks fat
lets see…
hopefully he is much better than his last 2 fights
Ruiz easy. He’s gonna do a paint job on this mummy.
Ortiz looked fragile in his last fight and needs a massive improvement to have a chance against Andy.
Worthy fight to watch, is what the heavyweight division needs, then we have Wilder Helenius and Parker-Joyce. My pick is Ortiz by narrow decision, just a pick, because this is true 50/50 not boring fight. Good luck to both of them
And also ready for the all you can eat buffet after the fight. Snickers and tacos better watch, demolition job ahead
Ruiz appeared shirtless for photos with Fox Sports and definitely looked in much better shape.
What’s up with this Mexico verse Cuba nonsense, Ruiz was born in California USA so how does that make him from Mexico? Is he ashamed of his American heritage or what?
Everyone comes from somewhere, so I have no problem with American-born Ruiz calling himself Mexican. Even American Indians came here from Asia by crossing the land bridge; they’re not “native” to this soil.
It’s technically a guy from Cali against a guy from Florida. The American methodology of being “Mexican” or “Irish” or “German” despite living your whole life in the USA is very specific to the US. I used to live in Germany, and even people from Ghana or Turkey were only referred to as “German” once they became citizens.
I don’t know about that. If Mike Tyson moved to China & took up residence in Beijing, I still wouldn’t consider him Chinese.
“It has been over three years since Ruiz shocked the world by knocking out Joshua and winning the heavyweight titles at New York’s Madison Square Garden.”
Feels like it’s been 30 years, hasn’t it?
Ruiz Jr seems to be a very humble and nice person who I can only wish the best for. I think one of the most interesting fights in my eyes today in the heavyweight division would be the one between Usyk vs Ruiz Jr. I am convinced that Ruiz Jr. with his speed, weight and pressure in the long run would be problematic for Usyk.
I see it totally differently. Usyk is on a different level and probably wins that fight easy. I’m absolutely not sold on Ruiz as being better than a one-hit-wonder. The funny thing is likely wins this fight simply because Ortiz is faded badly. I don’t see a Ruiz win over Ortiz as being that impactful in the heavyweight division. Take Ruiz’s win versus Joshua away and he’s nowhere near the top 10. He got offered an eliminator against Hrgovic and wanted nothing to do with it.
So if he beats a 67 year old Ortiz he’s in title contention……ok.
Ruiz by decision or can Kong make one last comeback?
If Ruiz gets past old man Ortiz I guess next it’s a title shot against old man Fres Oquendo for the Regular WBA title.
This is a must win for ruiz or else is back to minor league fighters and pay days if he loses. This is basically his last chance to stay relevant in the ranking. He needs to convincibly beat a 43 year old waaaay pass his prime boxer who will run out of gas after the 6th round so, younger and faster are attributes in his favor. Ppv event is just an insult for boxing fans, definetely should has been a national tv broadcast!
He had his chance and blew it