Andy Ruiz on facing Luis Ortiz: 'I know damn well it’s not going to be an easy fight'

Former unified heavyweight titleholder promises he isn't taking Sunday's main event lightly as he has other bouts

Dan Rafael

Sep 04, 2022

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Former unified heavyweight titlist Andy Ruiz Jr. has his regrets.

He knows he messed up and insists he will not make the same mistake again when he meets longtime contender and former two-time title challenger Luis “King Kong” Ortiz in the main event of a Premier Boxing Champions pay-per-view card on Sunday (9 p.m. ET, Fox PPV, FITE and PPV.com, $74.95) at Crypto Arena in Los Angeles.

The fight is a WBC semifinal elimination bout and a win would be a big step toward where Ruiz wants: another heavyweight title shot.

Ruiz had one once before. It was June 2019 at New York’s Madison Square Garden and he made the most of it. Ruiz was tapped as a late replacement to challenge three-belt titleholder Anthony Joshua when his original opponent, Jarrell Miller, was ousted after multiple failed tests for performance-enhancing drugs.

Ruiz pulled one of the biggest upsets in heavyweight title history on that memorable night, getting off the canvas from a third-round knockdown and storming back to drop Joshua twice in later in the third round and then twice more in the seventh round to get the stoppage and take the belts in dramatic fashion as he became the first fighter of Mexican decent to win a heavyweight world title.

Then Ruiz spent most of the next six months enjoying the spoils of victory and celebrating. He did just about everything other than remember that Joshua had invoked his contractual right to an immediate rematch, and when Ruiz showed up in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia for the sequel he had packed on 15 pounds and was not in fighting shape, mentally or physically. Joshua easily outboxed him in a lopsided decision to take the belts back and relegate Ruiz perhaps to being a one-hit wonder.

After the loss in December 2019, Ruiz did not fight again for 17 months — until a unanimous decision over faded contender Chris Arreola in May 2021 in which he got knocked down in the second round and did not look close to his best.

Ruiz (34-2, 22 KOs), 32, of Imperial, California, said he is determined to change the one-hit wonder label but admitted that he got caught up in the trappings of the upset victory over Joshua and blames himself for his poor performance in the rematch and for taking Arreola too lightly.

“I think the long layoff (after Joshua) was me being made at myself because I felt I coulda done a lot of different changes. Things happened to fast,” Ruiz told Fight Freaks Unite. “My dreams came true. Instead of me going back to the gym I felt like I forgot about the rematch clause that I had and I was just over here, over there and it just happened so fast that I kind of got a little depressed. I was a little mad at myself.

“To this day I’m still mad at myself. But I’ve got to climb up the ladder once again and use that as a motivation where if I do get the opportunity to become a champion again I know exactly what not to do and what to do.”

Not only did Ruiz admit to taking Arreola lightly after the loss to Joshua he went into that fight with a bum right knee that he had post-fight surgery on. So, he will go into the fight with Ruiz off a 16-month layoff.

“After I had the rematch with Anthony Joshua I was training and I was trying to come back, and then my knee started hurting,” Ruiz said. “So, during the camp for Arreola, I kind of underestimated that fight and thought it was going to be an easy fight. I did not train like I was supposed to or like I usually do, and through that camp I had to take cortisone shots on my knee.

“And the doctor was telling me, ‘Hey, bro, you have to get operated (on), you got a torn meniscus on your right knee. I told him, ‘You know what, doc? I don’t got no time. I have a fight in like a month and half.’ I told him I got to take this fight and he was like, ‘Alright, do the best that you can and after that fight you’re gonna have to get operated (on). I was supposed to get operated (on) three years ago and I was just scared. I just couldn’t keep taking those shots.”

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So, Ruiz faced Arreola on the bad knee and struggled, even though he emerged victorious. He said he should have taken Arreola so lightly.

“There’s a lot of stuff I could have done better,” Ruiz said. “A lot stuff I could have improved, but I think I focused too much on (losing) weight. I focused too much on, ‘it’s Arreola.’ I sparred him when I was younger and we used to go at it and I thought it would be an easy fight. That’s why I took it and things happen for a reason. I learn from my mistakes so now we’ve been having a long training camp for Luis Ortiz because I know damn well it’s not going to be an easy fight.”

Ortiz (33-2, 28 KOs), 43, a Cuban southpaw fighting out of Miami, lost both of his world title shots by knockout to Deontay Wilder in 2018 and 2019, but he gave Wilder very tough fights both times. He nearly stopped him in the first fight before being knocked out in the 10th round and he dominated the second fight until getting knocked out with a single right hand in the seventh round.

Ortiz is coming off a sixth-round knockout of former titlist Charles Martin on New Year’s Day and despite getting dropped twice, polished Martin off with two knockdowns in the sixth round.

Ruiz, who is going into the fight with his third head trainer — Alfredo Osuna — in as many fights, knows all about Ortiz’s ability and punching power and said there is no way he was taking this one lightly.

“That’s why I’m busting my ass,” Ruiz said. “We’re not focusing too much on the weight. I’m just trying to be who I am and train hard because you know this is one of my first times fighting a lefty. So, we’ve been training hard for his style. But I feel me being a counter puncher and me being aggressive as well and the speed (advantage I have) — I don’t want to say it’s an easy fight or anything like that because I know damn well I’m going to go in there knowing it’s gonna be a tough fight. He’s a big guy, he’s strong, he has a lot of knockouts. But I feel my speed is gonna make it a little hard for him to hit me. God willing, we win this victory.”

If Ruiz does win he said he, of course, would love a shot at champion Tyson Fury or unified titleholder Oleksandr Usyk, who took the belts off Joshua. He would also like a shot at fellow PBC fighter Wilder if he beats Robert Helenius in their WBC semifinal eliminator on Oct. 15.

“I feel this fight is really important. I have to win this fight,” Ruiz said of the Ortiz assignment. “There’s a lot of pressure on me because I want to look good. I want to win impressively. If I win this fight, God willing, sky’s the limit. I’ll be back on top. This is exactly the type of fight I need to (get a shot to) get those belts back.