The most important thing was that we came back and got the victory.” "I got a little overconfident in the early rounds. If he wants to run it back, we'll run it back with him,” Ruiz said. "I felt a little rust and I know other fighters can relate to that. He wants to get back in the gym ASAP and fight at his new weight at 255 pounds. Reynoso proved to be the whisperer and taskmaster the 31-year-old Ruiz needed to resurrect his career, at least for Saturday night.īehind on the scorecards early and welts and redness developing under his eyes, Ruiz regained his bearings and reclaimed momentum in the fourth.Īndy Ruiz said he was feeling rusty and he underestimated Chris Arreola. After a battle with depression and going up to 310 pounds, Ruiz decided to switch trainers and handed the keys to his career to heralded Eddy Reynoso, the respected coach and confidant of Canelo Álvarez. The humbling defeat was more than enough reason for Ruiz to reconsider his future. The already portly pugilist ballooned from 268 pounds to 283 for the rematch just six months later and lost in a landslide decision. The accolades and newfound fame and money that came with the life-changing win proved to be too much for Ruiz, and he soon unraveled. Ruiz was boxing’s Cinderella story in 2019 when he pulled off the shocker of the century by knocking out Anthony Joshua to become the first fighter of Mexican descent to capture the heavyweight crown. He knows he clearly hurt Ruiz but admitted he was cautious while going for the finish. It's dejecting to not get the respect from the judges that I feel I deserve.”Ĭhris Arreola ripped the judging after the fight. "A lot of punches he threw were hitting my gloves. He might have won, but don't tell me I only won round,” Arreola said. "I respect the judges, but I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Ruiz recovered and showed his resilience and got Arreola’s attention with a left hook with a minute to go and started backing him down again. They instantly started trading and swinging wildly, much to the pleasure of the fans.
Round 3 started resoundingly for Arreola, who rocked Ruiz with another vicious counter left hand that folded his knees.
Evidently he was hurt, however, because Arreola found more success soon after. Ruiz fell to the canvas half-heartedly, clearly disappointed. (Harry How / Getty Images)Ī more lithe Ruiz was seemingly gliding into the second round until Arreola stunned him with a right hand that skimmed the side of his temple and folded his right knee. takes a punch from Chris Arreola during their heavyweight fight on Saturday. His blazing hand speed was displayed with 35 seconds to go when he landed a clean right hand that caught Arreola on the temple.Īndy Ruiz Jr. Ruiz started the first round marching forward, connecting with hard rights to the chest of Arreola (38-7-1, 33 KOs).
Ruiz landed 161 punches, while Arreola countered with 109, per CompuBox. I could have kept my hands up better, but I just need to get back in the gym and stay busy.” I couldn't really find my distance, but some of that was Arreola doing a good job. I got dropped, but I got up and got the victory,” Ruiz said. "When you go down, you just have to climb back up. Ruiz (34-2, 22 knockouts) survived a rusty and bumpy start in the second round highlighted by getting knocked down, and a third round in which he was severely wobbled, to recover and win a rugged affair by scores of 117-110, 118-109 and 118-109. The Mexican American fighters were looking to polish their presence in the heavyweight picture, mere days before Cinco de Mayo, a holiday that is a bit like boxing’s Super Bowl week.Ī dedicated and disciplined Ruiz reemerged and proved he’s ready, living up to his nickname of “The Destroyer” by beating Arreola via unanimous decision in front of a feisty, 33% capacity crowd of 3,940. California hosted a boxing card with fans for the first time since the pandemic started, and the Saturday night show featured two of Southern California’s home-grown boxing sons looking to revive their careers.ĭignity Health Sports Park hosted the heavyweight showdown between former unified heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz Jr., from Imperial, and three-time world title challenger Chris Arreola, from Riverside.
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