WBC Heavyweight Title Eliminator
Last night’s PBC/Fox PPV Main Event between former Unified Heavyweight Champion Andy Ruiz Jr. (35-2, 22 Kos) and Luis Ortiz (33-3 28 Kos) at the Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, California, was an interesting bout that saw “King Kong” be at the receiving end of three knockdowns during the 12-round contest. Unbelievable.
I’m not sure if Ortiz underestimated Ruiz inside that squared circle but after seeing the canvas twice in round two, Ortiz awoke and realized quickly that Andy was coming for him by all means necessary. It took Ortiz some time but he eventually gathered himself and adjusted his “game plan” by working his jab while boxing and moving around making Andy rethink his approach.
That said this version of Andy last night was patient, less active with his hands but more calculative with his approach making sure when he pressed the action, his presence was felt with every punch landed. Ruiz’s hand speed and counter punching was the key to his success.
Both combatants fought with caution and at a slower pace than expected at times but both still had signs of success whenever they did connect blows back and forth. That being said, Andy’s counter punching speed and power was quite evident when he once again dropped Ortiz in round seven for a quick 8 count, but Ortiz bounced backed up and completed the tough round.
Ortiz regrouped and managed to build up some momentum throughout the later rounds with an effective jab keeping Ruiz at bay but he lacked that extra bounce in the back of his jab to put Ruiz down whenever the opportunity presented itself.
After 12 full rounds of action the Judges scored it 115-110, 114-111, 113-112 unanimously in favor of Andy Ruiz Jr.
Although Ruiz managed to drop Ortiz multiple times throughout the bout, this was by far one of his toughest battles to date. With this WBC Heavyweight Title Eliminator win under his belt Andy creeps closer to an official WBC World Championship opportunity down the road.
Congratulations Andy on your latest win.
Blaze