By Miguel Maravilla at ringside
In a WBC heavyweight eliminator, former unified champion Andy “The Destroyer” Ruiz Jr. (35-2, 22 KOs) of Imperial Valley, California, defeated Cuba’s Luis “King Kong” Ortiz (33-3, 28 KOs) by twelve round unanimous decision on Sunday night at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Ruiz dropped Ortiz twice in round two, but the 43-year-old King Kong survived. The pace slowed until round seven when Ruiz dropped Ortiz again. Scores were 113-112, 114-111, 114-111.
It was Ruiz that started off stalking as the southpaw Ortiz pumped the jab, later in the round Ortiz mixed in a combination that snapped Ruiz’s head. Returning the favor in round two, Ruiz drilled Ortiz with a short right hand, sending him to the canvas as he was up and continued to fight and dropped him a second time as Ortiz finished the round. A body shot in the third by Ruiz staggered Ortiz, Ruiz paced himself controlling the round. Sticking and trading jabs in the fourth, Ortiz kept Ruiz at a distance as Ruiz attacked and attempted to connect the chopping right.
Ruiz stayed close to Ortiz in the fifth as the Cuban continued to box and jab away. Looking to land the right hand, Ruiz attempted the neutralize Ortiz in the sixth as King Kong continued to box and jab. The pace in round seven favored Ortiz as the jab was on point, Ruiz however connected with a huge right hand that sent Ortiz to the canvas a third time. Continuing to pump the jab, Ortiz utilized the stick as he had a good eighth round keeping Ruiz away and limiting him.
The former world champion appeared to slow his pace in the ninth as he stalked, Ortiz connected with a solid straight left snapping Ruiz’s head. Late in the fight in the tenth, Ortiz kept working off the jab neutralizing Ruiz and limiting his work output. Heading to the championship rounds, the fight appeared to be close as Ortiz dictated at his pace, later in the eleventh round Ruiz connected with a solid right hand that caused Ortiz’s left eye to swell up. With the fight hanging close, Ortiz stalked and was busy as the two finished trading in the center.
After 12 rounds the judges scored the bout 114-111, 114-111, and 113-112 in favor of Ruiz.
Pretty much what we expected
Neither fighter is top 5 anymore
Luis hung in there at 50 yrs old.
Ruiz needs to stay active
Ruiz is trash now ever since he went on a diet and lost weight he hasn’t looked the same. He was harder puncher and better chin as a fatty.
And you don’t think he looks fat anymore?
Not sure what you are talking about. Ruiz is ranked above AJ and a lot of others. He knocked AJ senseless while AJ ran and got a points win. So it is 1-1 but Ruiz was much more impressive. I would say he is ranked top 5.
What as AJ got to do with current Ruiz. That fight was ages ago
Great performance by Andy Ruiz and Ortiz. I think Ortiz has the tools to beat Usyk and you never know maybe against Fury. Wilder and Ruiz would be a great match with the winner getting a shot at the title.
Sarcasm is great…lol
ortiz has a weakness that wilder exposed. he can’t take shots to the head. charles martin exposed the same weakness. and now ruiz.
Seems like a fair decision. Ortiz seemed to win every round when he wasnt KD’ed or stunned. Wonder if Ruiz could even land a big right hand on Wilder? I would hope Andy would pick up his work rate against Wilder if that fight happened.
Ortiz getting dropped with those high shots on the head. Not sure he is going to stand up to other heavys with big punches.
Wilder will use the jab and pick Ruiz apart each subsequent round. Ruiz would be forced to get aggressive if he wanted to beat Wilder as Wilder’s reach will rack up points pretty fast. Ortiz was 43 years old in the Ruiz fight and I felt did a decent job considering his advancing age. Ortiz’s jab was excellent when he was winning rounds.
That’s how I see the fight playing out as well. But it ends by ko once Wilder lands.
Ummm Wilder has like 50 fights and in not one of them has he used his jab let alone used his jab to “pick him apart”.
Berserker
..Understand that is your opinion…but Wilder uses his jab… especially to set up his power punch….go back and watch his fights….just watch the knockdowns….it is often a 2 punch combination…starting with a quick jab and that historic right hand…can say alot of things about Wilder but not using a jab at all???? Watch the last Fury fight…that last knockdown of Fury by Wilder …that was one of the greatest… shortest… deceptively quickest …jab …straight right combinations I have yet to see..and I have studied alot the great punchers.and not just in our generation…in my opinion,..(even greater than that 1-2 Foreman use to beat Moorer)…again …in my humble opinion ..can say alot about Wilder as a boxer but never…never using a jab is certainly not a statement that I can make or support
You guys are sick you guys don’t know nothing about boxing who is beat the guy and you’re still picking on him rather than the best shape he’s ever been in and you’re picking on him I think he can stand up to Wilder if he gets closer and he keeps moving moving moving moving jab jab uppercut. Learn a little bit about boxing and get back with me. Richard
Luis Orriz should retire and Ruiz is confirming with every fight that his win over Jushua was a fluke, just a very lucky night. I don’t see in Ruiz the substance to be in the mix with the top guys, Joyce or Dubois would destroy him.
Ruiz would box circles around Joyce are you kidding?!?!? Joyce might be the slowest heavyweight I’ve ever seen. Dude moves like he’s made out of concrete. Ruiz is a thousand times the fighter Joyce could ever be!! Calling his win against AJ a “fluke” is hilarious. I told everyone he was going to win that fight and win it easily. He did. When he’s in shape he’s a top fighter, no question. He’s the fastest guy in the division. He would have a field day teeing off on slow ass Joyce. He’d win every exchange. He can take punches as you saw tonight. Ortiz can punch and Ruiz was never dazed.
Berserker: Recon Joyce would not be much affected by Ruiz’s power and Joyce’s higher work rate would tire Ruiz out. But you could be right.
Actually agree with you here…Ruiz …can fight…just take to many ….clean shots..a clean shot from the greatest puncher in history..could be a disaster..if Ruiz could cut the ring off like Tyson or Frazier..with those quick hands he would be hard to beat…Ruiz.throws great quick combinations on the inside… something admittedly strange about naturally overweight boxer…losing a lot of weight then that overweight boxer’s skills change…Ruiz just seems to be a better fighter at a comfortable weight..which may look overweight to us
Ruiz was never dazed? There was a reason Ruiz didn’t exchange much as the fight went on and it became a dull boxing match. Ruiz ate a couple of those left hands and didn’t like it
Yeah it’s cos he lost all that weight he basically just fcked himself doing that cos he took away his power and punch resistance. Should’ve learnt from fury. Stupid Ruiz god created you a fat man stop trying to get six pack abs.
Dubois hasn’t beaten anyone.
Joshua is not top 5 either
Ortiz then took the count three times and Ruiz Jr still just managed to win the match. I don’t know what to believe.
The victory over Joshua was no fluke. He went another 12 rounds afterwards also against Joshua. Says maybe something about Joshua too.
Still want to give Ruiz Jr more time. Ruiz Jr is only 32. But there are for sure questionmarks.
Never thought I would wish for the days of Tony Tubbs and Greg Page nothing but bums today
Fair point but theory has more wholes than Swiss Cheese….never know when you step in ring and they are face to face…
I don’t wish for the Tony Tubbs vs. Greg Page days. That was the worst heavyweight title fight in history. Thank goodness Mike Tyson came along then!
Disappointed by Ruiz was unable to pull the trigger.
Great fight lots of action, i fell asleep, woke up and glad it was over.
Not Impressed with either. Ruiz came in fluffy again. And ortiz wasnt aggressive. Disappointed….
Wilder in 2!
Decent scorecards for a C+ fight. 6-6 or 114-114 and then subtract 3 points for the knockdowns. I would have gone 10-8 on round 2 though as the 2nd knockdown was questionable.
That about sums it up…great analysis..,
Ruiz needs to be more consistant with his combinations. He can’t fight like that against uzik, fury much less wilder. Not really interested seen him matched up against any of the top 5! He really needs to work harder cause he struggled against a slow, washed up 50 year old! He needed to impress againt the old man but, instead looked terrible! He might have one more big paycheck being match against any of the top 5 but, thats it. I don’t think ruiz has much in the tank to go toe to toe against the top dogs as he did with the overimflated joshua! He really needs to work harder than this to really show interest to promotors!
2 heavyweight Johnny Tapias fighting for 0 credibility. Nothing to see here. Sad
The 12th round was a good and exciting round with both Ruiz and Ortiz pushing the action and trading. Was Ortiz pushing in the 12th because Ruiz was more tired and Ortiz felt that Ruiz’s punches no longer felt as heavy or was Ortiz just giving it all because it was the final round.
Ruiz was just too inactive against the busier Ortiz. The knockdowns pulled it out for him, but Ortiz was outworking him in many of the other rounds. It was a tactical fight but it looked like Ruiz had a hard time attacking the southpaw stance of Ortiz while getting peppered with jabs and left hands. He also looked slow on his feet.He had success when they exchanged but at a distance, Ortiz was getting the better of it.
Ruiz may do better against an orthodox fighter. The bad news is, Usyk is an active, mobile southpaw who throws a lot of punches.
Dumbass Ruiz you lost your weight now you are average bum.
Almost lost to 50 year old chinless grandfather Ortiz. Wilder & dubois will poleaxe you in 2 rounds.
He is 43. Lol
Exactly what weight did he lose?
Same thing i was wondering
Ruiz is still a pigs ass. Could stand to lose 25 pounds!
This was for a WBC eliminator??
what a joke!!
Ruiz should forget about Usyk or Fury, he is know near the level of them, or Joyce or Parker now.
He could fight Whyte or Wilder and let’s see how he does against them.
Ortiz should retire or maybe have one last big payday against Chisora.
People paid PPV money for that?
Not smart ones…
The mere fact that the scoring was that close even with the knock downs doesn’t say much for Ruiz in his performance against a 40+ year old Ortiz whose better days have long past him by years ago. If Fury wants a tune up fight in December before Usyk, Ruiz would be a good opponent to beat up on.
im not agreeing with alot of the comments here but i thought it was a decent scrap. Ruiz was never going to look good against southpaw ortiz. Ortiz, eve though older, looks more fit and moves better than heavyweights half his age boxing.
I also think after the 2 knockdowns ruiz got in the 2nd round, that it kind of threw him off for the rest of the fight. He started to just unload big shots afterwards as he know he could knock him down.
That sometimes happens when one fighter scores big knockdowns early , they think it will just happen again throughout the fight so they get more reliant on power, complacent, and forget what they trained for.
good learning experience for ruiz. ortiz only lost wilder who had extreme difficulty with him before obliterating him with one shot late later in the both fights.
The knockdowns won the fight for Andy and that’s part of the game. Same story applies here as with countless others….just 2 or 3 years ago….
Good fight. I think enough for a rematch at a higher pay. But it would have to be asap. Not sure what is going on with other belts and it might be 8 months at least before Usyk and or Fury make a defense.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Ortiz picked up a decent win or two if he decided to keep on (and he will), but I think he’ll probably have to get off the floor to do it every time.
andy looked like a c fighter. I will not pay to watch him again. he is fat. that is zero discipline. he is a fat c fighter and he will never be better. he threw one meaningful (lucky) punch in his career. he could have been beloved but he is laughed at . fat and stupid.
When was it that fight be on regular TV
ortiz barely won 2 rounds….him and joshua so much size and talent wasted
Thought the fight should have been over in the 2nd round but Ruiz has no killer instinct. He carried Ortiz which is not going to help Ruiz get the bigger fights. Boring fight if you ask me.
Anyone else tired of seeing Andy’s son everywhere, JCC Jr all over. What’s this Mexican anthem BS, Ruiz is American ,born in California, you can always move south Andy. Shameful I bet he gets paid in dollars not pesos.
Chavez…Normally do not respond to post with no substance…especially when it is not boxing related on a boxing post….but to tell you the truth….I would rather see Ruiz and his family… including his son..if we celebrate movie stars.,.musicians,..sports figures …etc…why not his son? We are talking about his child..,
..rather see that than Ruiz surrounded by Pretenders…..people who pretend to care but don’t….hanger ons.etc….the rest of your comment speaks for itself….
celebrate movie stars.,.musicians,..sports figures …etc, maybe you do. Name another sport where the family is in locker room before the event? This is a boxing issue, no governing board equals all the corruption we have in the sport and kids in dressing rooms. Ask Canelo what happens to family members who’s faces are shown they get kidnapped for ransom
Again…Chavez understand it is your opinion….this is a boxing related site…Canelo…kinapping
,How the hell is that relevant to Ruiz’s performance last night.or anything that happened in the ring last night….Ruiz son had absolutely nothing to do with Ruiz’s performance..and Ruiz nor his son have any control over where the camera goes on a live event..or programming choices….you made a statement about a child on a worldwide site.. as small minded and as ridiculous as it is…I understand that it is easy to type foolishness on a computer…
Despite some of you guys’ comments on Ruiz being chubby being fat and whatever you know the guy he’s only six one smaller of any of the or most of the heavy weights out there these days but I’ll tell you what this guy can fight he’s good on his feet he’s fast with his hands and he won the fight come on give the kid a break I don’t think he’s done yet my opinion an old man as you call him and he is Ortiz can take a hell of a punch and he’s still there but he lost
“Wilder will use the jab and pick Ruiz apart each subsequent round. Ruiz would be forced to get aggressive if he wanted to beat Wilder as Wilder’s reach will rack up points pretty fast.”—-Scooby Doo
Scooby, since when has Wilder used his jab and reach to beat anybody. If he had listened to Mark Breland, and developed a jab like his, he could have had a devastating weapon in his arsenal. But he seldom used it. Reach goes hand in hand with the jab, and Wilder has a long reach, which he didn’t use to the max either. A long powerful jab that Wilder could have used bigtime, but didn’t, at least, not near enough.
Watch Wilder v Stiverne II….it will only take a few seconds… Wilder gets most of his knockouts with a quick jab and a straight right..it can be said that most of Wilder’s punch arsenal is a straight jab and a right hand…..seems to be enough though.,Wilder putting up historic numbers… snapping a jab is not needed …when Wilder has that right hand finisher….