Via Dan Ambrose: Luis Ortiz will enter the fight against former unified heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz Jr, a underdog for their title Sunday night on FOX Sports PPV at Crypto Arena in Los Angeles. If Ruiz loses this battle, his career will go up in smoke.
Given how poor and tall Ruiz (34-2, 22 KOs) was in his last game against Chris Arreola, 40, a year ago, you have to give 43-year-old Ortiz (33-2, 28 KOs) ) has a very good chance of winning.
Ortiz is clearly a better boxer than Arreola, and you can only imagine the amount of damage he could do if he landed on and powerful left-handed hits to Ruiz’s chin.
‘Terminator’ Ruiz, 32, feels that he has his weight at optimal for this fight, but it may not make a difference. When Ruiz lost to Joseph Parker in 2016, he was at perfect weight, but he still lost the fight.
“I need to break him and then eat him in later innings,” Andy Ruiz Jr told Against TV Hub about his plan to beat Luis Ortiz.
“Every punch is different,” Ruiz said, saying his father questioned Ortiz’s chin. “We take punches; it’s hard. All punches hurt. Even when Chris Arreola hit me on the head and chin. All hurt. That’s how you take it and come back to win that fight.
“No, because I also had knee surgery. Not many people knew that I had to have knee surgery, and it took me a while. Probably longer than usual because I’m enjoying my family,” Andy Ruiz said of whether being inactive has affected his career.
“I worked really hard to get to this point; a year off won’t hurt. As long as you practice hard and you achieve your one**. That’s why we had a long training camp for this fight because I’m not going to underestimate anyone anymore.
“People are pushing me to the limit. I feel like I should have done this a long time ago, especially opening my own gym. I feel like I can be more disciplined and give more to the sport. I’m still young. The future is super bright. I just have to work hard,” said Ruiz.
