By Miguel Maravilla at ringside
In a WBA heavyweight title eliminator, former unified heavyweight champion Andy “The Destroyer” Ruiz Jr. (34-2, 22 KOs) scored a hard-fought twelve round unanimous decision over Chris “The Nightmare” Arreola (38-7-1, 33 KOs) on Saturday night in front of 3,940 at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California in the first boxing event since the shutdown and first-ever Mexican heavyweight showdown on FOX Sports PBC Pay-Per-View.
Wasting no time, Ruiz and Arreola began throwing at from the opening bell with Ruiz connecting solidly and going to the body. During an exchange in round two, Arreola connected with a short right on top of Ruiz head scoring a knockdown as everyone was on their feet. Ruiz was up fighting but Arreola once again connected with a right hand. Arreola continued where he left off as he staggered Ruiz to the ropes but the former champ continued to fight and hang on.
In the fifth, Ruiz got his composure as Arreola slowed his pace. The former world champion appeared to have adapted and neutralize Arreola, Ruiz boxed and used combinations to score, Arreola didn’t appear to be phased. In the seventh, Ruiz worked the jab and mixed in combinations. The eighth-round saw, Ruiz connect with a solid right, moments later Arreola appeared to be bothered by pain on his arm.
Late in the fight in the ninth, Ruiz let his hands go but Arreola was still on the hunt. Ruiz outworked Arreola in the tenth round, jabbing away and mixing in combinations as Arreola was limited and appeared to be hurt from his arm. Coming out strong for the eleventh, Ruiz attacked despite have blood trickling down his nose as Arreola continued to stand his ground making it thus far. The final round was all pressure for Ruiz as Arreola held his own in giving a valiant effort and making it entertaining.
In going the distance, the judges scored the bout 118-109, 118-109, and 117-110 as Ruiz wins a unanimous decision.
“He got me with a good clean right hand in the second round,” said Ruiz. “I was too overconfident and dropped my hand a bit. Hats off to him. We just kept pushing and pushing. I switched up and started focusing on counterpunching and working the body.”
“I felt a little rust and I know other fighters can relate to that. If he wants to run it back, we’ll run it back with him.”
Arreola stated, “I respect the judges, but I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. He might have won, but don’t tell me I only won two or three rounds. I got hit in the shoulder and it kind of threw it off. It wasn’t a big deal though. It’s a part of boxing. I didn’t take too much punishment. I’m ready to run it back with Andy.”
Was I right? Or was I right? I said Arreola would give Andy a fight but Andy not being a knockout puncher would end up winning a majority or unanimous decision. No way Andy beats AJ or Tyson Fury!
If I’m not mistaken I think he already beat AJ, didn’t he?
Fluke win tho. AJ trained 8 weeks for a fight and then had 1 week notice on a different opponent. BIG difference. Andy never beats AJ again.
unless Ruiz improves everything, he could fight AJ 10 more times, and every one of them will look like their 2nd fight. or worse
That is why we play the game or fight the fight. NC State beating Houston in the 1983 NCAA Basketball Championship or Buster Douglas beating Mike Tyson. Were they flukes…. maybe so, but they still won.
@Arturo: Keep in mind that Ruiz also took the 1st fight w/ AJ at the last minute — with the key difference being that he didn’t have a two month training camp. Fluke or not, it was a great upset win — one for the ages.
Dave, he had one good night, maybe you seem to forget what happened in the rematch.
Tonight showed that Ruiz is a one hit wonder. I would like to see him fight Chisora who looked better in his fight.
I’m laughing at all these casual fans on here going on about how Ruiz beat AJ, but forgot how AJ beat him up for 12 rounds in the rematch.
Ruiz showed that tonight he struggled against a washed up journeyman and has no chance against a new and improved AJ.
I give Ruiz a chance against Wilder or Chisora, but that’s about it.
No wonder he and PBC are ducking Whyte, because they know Whyte would beat his arse and Fury will put him in a coma.
It’s really hard to tell , Andy admits at being not 100 for this fight and has the ability to get better. I think Andy may still lose those fights but with his determination and hand speed can’t just overlook him.
He already beat AJ
lets see if Ruiz continues to improve his skills, work on his conditioning/fitness and continues to drop more weight.
if he does this over the next few years, i will be impressed..
or, if he becomes lazy, fatter, and does what he has always done in the past.
btw, Chisora vs Arreola or
Ruiz vs Whyte or Chisora
As discussed leading up to the fight, Ruiz’s hand speed and youth did benefit him as the fight progressed. Chris’s timing in the early rounds allowed him to catch Ruiz for the knockdown thanks to Goosen’s great training methods. I had Ruiz winning the fight especially as the rounds progressed after rounds 6. Kudos to Chris for making it a good fight especially in the early rounds. I am really not anxious to see a rematch as I feel the results would play out the same way. Chris’s age was starting to show in the last half of the fight. I would like to see more of Ruiz in the future as he does have some tools in his arsenal that would make some great matchups with other fighters. I must confess I did not purchase this fight. I was cheap and watched the freebie early this morning while being on call for my job.
You really went out on a limb saying Andy would beat Chris by decision?!?!?!
He already beat AJ…….. sorry
This is a classic styles make fights. Areola isn’t taylor made for Ruiz. They’re both volume punchers that punch with both so this was going to be a scrap. If you’re bragging about that call than WOW. Ruiz is still a bad match for AJ and I think a rubber match will show Andy winning. AJs only answer is to stick and move on him because he has no answer for that hand speed. As long as Andy can actually move vs how fat he was in the 2nd bout, it will be Andy with his hands raised. He has no shot at Fury. But I don’t think AJ does either.
I guess the days of looking like you train as a heavy are long gone. Both these guy looked sloppy. 97% of the heavy top contenders are fat and sloppy looking. Zero muscle tone. The 90’s heavy weights would destroy today’s heavy weights.
Can’t compare to the steroid era
Tyson, Lewis, Holyfield, Razor Ruddock, Bowe, in shade “buster Douglas” Shannon Briggs. Those champs never been caught taking steroids. This is boxing not baseball
Wake up
Holyfield has been on T for years and he has a freakish skull that smashed Rahman’s eye socket. Briggs is a another obvious juicer. Hey Ruiz and Arreola both have heart a good chin and with that belly flab you know they are not juicing.
That’s how the fighters looked in the 80s pre-Tyson.
Except for guys like Mike Weaver, Bonecrusher Smith, Tony Tucker and Frank Bruno (not everyone back then was a slob).
@Cubanitovich I’d add Mike Williams to that list…
The 90’s didn’t have any legit PED testing either so it might be wise to factor that little difference in.
And 80’s heavyweights would destroy today’s
true but AJ looks like mr. olympia and was flattened by ruiz.
The judges are fked, i had Arreola winning the first 3 rounds and drawn the 4th. They only gave him 1 round wtf?
Anyway good fight.
Are you a certified boxing judge? lmao… or YouTube Certified?
I agree I had Arreola winning the first 3 out of 4 and a knockdown. He hurt Ruiz 3 times. Ruiz out worked him the second half. I thought it was closer than the judges had it. Ruiz by a slim margin……maybe.
PBC mafia at it on this one. There is no way that was so lopsided. Andy had his one-hit wonder moment with Joshua and that’s where it ends. Great job by Arreola!! I can already see Ruiz getting Ko’ d by Tyson or Wilder.
Is this what our critiques have come to? Judging and commenting solely on physique vs. an actual fight analysis? Listen I expected more from Ruiz but without being biased I do understand and saw what the objective was. Have your moments but work on your craft. Not only did he have to shake ring rust but he is also trying to evolve and improve as a fighter. He previously fought more instinctually but tonight he was more strategic, sticking to the game plan his corner has devised for him while working on the new things he was taught. He is a work in progress and seems to be committed to reaching another level. His heart and raw talent took him to the highest pinnacles of boxing and now he is working on staying there. Now with that said I’m concerned about his ability to take those big punches. Prior to being dropped in the 1st fight with Aj he had never been dropped. Now he seemed to get buzzed often. Let’s see what the future holds for Andy, I’ll continue to be a big fan. Much respect for both fighters
Both of these guys are American not Mexicans. As a citizen of the United States, I’m an American and nothing but an American.
Jimmy P. another Juan Valdez are you? Who cares!? There’s bigger fish to fry.
Areola has a pretty solid chin. So can’t really downgrade Ruiz for that. It was a pride fight for Areola, it got up for it best he could at this stage of his career. Ruiz will do fine with another training camp if AJ rematches him.
Ruiz was rusty….kept getting hit with that right hand… specific ally the right hand counter…Arreola stunned Ruiz ….couldn’t adapt during the fight,..Ruiz was open for a short right hand all night….Arreola couldn’t follow through maybe injury but most likely age….Ruiz needs to work on his defense …..has great handspeed but relying on exchanges with opponent toooo much…gets caught…this fight didn’t seem to take punches well…strategy maybe catching up with him should set punches up off jab then use handspeed effectively….needs more time up fights before stepping up again….
I have one word for you….C? Too Laboring Gerbronies laboring to a decision. Great fight my ass
Ruiz didn’t win it. Arreola lost it with inactivity. Took his best shots. He should of gone for broke. Loved the post fight interview. That should be fined when your a professional.
I do think when Arreola hurt him, he should have went in for the kill. He was there for the taking.
For some odd reason this is the Cristobal that foughtKlitschko give or take a few anos..Klitschko NOT Minto. One do one not no do one?
A good scrap.
Arreola needed to step into his jabs to set up more efficient right hands. Arreola gave it try, but Ruiz, Jr. (Ruiz) had too much speed and too many punch varieties. Ruiz’s left hooks were highly accurate because Arreola was unable to keep up his right hand when Ruiz threw his left hooks as a #2 or especially as a #3.
As expected, Ruiz’s hand speed and combination punching were solid. However, I was very impressed with Ruiz’s constant jabs to Arreola’s stomach – FMJ style. During the course of a fight, constant stiff jabs to a person’s stomach can take air while minimizing a person’s physical will and/or mental will. Ruiz displayed solid jabs to Arreola’s stomach (as a silent killer).
I do not care for a rematch because Ruiz should move to bigger and better matters. Next, I hope to see Ruiz fight Ortiz or Usyk because Wilder is experiencing camp issues and confidence issues.
Hilarious how both these guys think they’re Mexican but born in the US. Anyway Ruiz performed like sh*t against a punching bag, it’s becoming more and more evident that his famous win over AJ was a complete fluke, this fat lazy pig Andy disgusts me, he doesn’t deserve another title shot.
L I’m US born Mexican.
I don’t know why there was this urge to change trainers and lose heaps of weight? Hold on…
There was nothing wrong at all with the Ruiz up to and including AJ 1. Effective and he won the fight. Then he ballooned and he lost the rematch as didn’t train and came on over over over weight.
Andy surely just needed to get back to what he was not some ‘new’ Andy with much weight off. Historically heavyweights do not fair well after drastic weight loss especially career heavyweights that go down to cruiserweight etc (there is a long list that fail). They perform flat and usually become ‘fragile’ to some degree (there is a long long list – won’t include as the more knowledgeable will be able to remember examples).
Ruiz needs to get back what he had, not become something he has never been. Not dramatic weight loss YET but enough that will effect him not be what was effective career long exempt AJ rematch.
Don’t fix what wasn’t broke, just not training on snickers. Spirited effort from Arreola which must never be overlooked.
Like to see Usyk fight Ruiz, Usyk will totally outclass Ruiz and possibly stop him.
I can’t believe people actually paid to watch this fight. Arreola never beat a good fighter, Ruiz is a questionable contender. This is PPV worthy?
Areola 40 years old Andy a Fatboy what’s decent fan speed wake up at 9 he may have gotten lucky with a j but this guy’s 15 minutes has come and gone I wouldn’t have paid a plug nickel to see either one of these past their Prime and a fat boy fight even with fast hands you got to have more than fast head you got to have a fast brain and he’s just a fat boy no one in their right mind should have paid for this these spiders today Spanish please don’t hold a candle to the fighters of the 60s 70s 80s and 90s we just had the passing of Marvelous Marvin Hagler who was a dedicated professional unlike arriola and Andy
Chris…..please retire
Anticlimatic affair,a ho hum encounter.Very disappointed
Didn’t his father Andy Ruiz sr once fight George Foreman ??? But I don’t think his father ever held a tittle ,but I could be seeing
But I could be wrong about weather Andy Ruiz sr ever held a tittle or not
I looked forward to watching this… at the casino.
Happy to place a wager on Ruiz to win by UD as it was silly they set that method of winning as high as +350 so took advantage of that, with a small hedge in Case Arreola scored a KO. I figured the odds were slim that Ruiz would get a KO based on Chris’s toughness and history (minus Wilder of course). Also knew Andy would get a judges nod if fight was close. Didn’t know the scores would look so wide..
Also we knew Andy had enough speed and ring generalship to bank rounds. Chris doesn’t fight with “winning rounds” in mind.
Placed the bets, saw they had MMA on and asked at the window about the “FOX PPV” fight assuming that if MGM wasn’t too good to offer lines, then they would also show it.
Nope- same as my original logic on skipping buying it for lack of PPV calue. The guy said
“We only show the BIG PPV fights, not the small ones. 🙂 So had to settle for watching NBA but the amount collected was no small consolation.
But they provided a good scrap, so let’s see more matchups. HW is better these days in selections. They don’t all have to be “title” fights. Match someone up with King Kong, Wilder, Dillion White, etc. Either guy vs Chisora, since he pushes all the fighters to their limit.
Arturo, you were right