Notebook: Heavyweight Andy Ruiz is back and in tough against 'King Kong' Ortiz

Gonzalez, Dogboe in battle of featherweight contenders; BetUS show; Quick hits; Show and tell

Jul 22, 2022

A note to Fight Freaks Unite readers: If you have upgraded to a paid subscription, thank you! If you have not, please consider doing so to receive the most content. A paid subscription is also your way of keeping this reader-supported newsletter going and supporting independent journalism.

It’s been 16 months since former unified heavyweight titleholder Andy Ruiz Jr. has boxed but he’s back now and aiming for what would be a very significant victory.

He faces former two-time world title challenger Luis “King Kong” Ortiz in a 12-round WBC elimination bout in the main event of a Premier Boxing Champions pay-per-view card on Sept. 4 (Fox Sports PPV, 9 p.m. ET) at Crypto Arena in Los Angeles.

The fighters came face to face this week at the arena to kick off the promotion of the event at a low-key news conference but one in which they both made their intention clear.

“This might not go the distance, but I’m prepared to go all 12 rounds,” Ruiz said. “We’re going to get this victory no matter what. The people wanted this fight and we’re going to give the people what they want. It’s going to be a hell of a show.”

Said Ortiz, speaking through an interpreter: “This fight is going to end in a knockout. I’m sure Andy thinks the same thing. This one isn’t going to go 12 rounds.”

For Ruiz (34-2, 22 KOs), 32, of Imperial, California, it will only be his second fight since he came wholly unprepared — physically and mentally — for his December 2019 immediate rematch with Anthony Joshua in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, where he lost a one-sided decision and the belts just six months after he was a late replacement and scored a gargantuan upset by knocking Joshua out in the seventh round to win the belts in New York.

After the loss, Ruiz did not fight for 17 months until returning to outpoint former title challenger Chris Arreola in May 2021. He is stepping back in the ring with an even more formidable opponent in Ortiz.

“We didn’t come here to cherry-pick anybody,” Ruiz said. “We wanted a tough opponent and that’s why we picked Luis Ortiz. He’s strong, he’s awkward, he’s a lefty, but we’ve had a long training camp and we’ll be ready.

“The main thing for me is going to be staying busy. I’m not underestimating Luis Ortiz, because he comes to fight. He wants to be world champion. On Sept. 4, we’ll go toe-to-toe and we’ll see who’s going to win.”

Ruiz will enter the fight with yet another trainer in Alfredo Osuna, his third trainer in as many fights after having parted ways first with Manny Robles and then with Eddy Reynoso.

“I wanted to work with Alfredo Osuna a long time ago. It just wasn’t the right time then,” Ruiz said. “He’s used to training for lefty fighters. I feel like this is exactly what I needed for this fight. My team is going to bring the best out of me.”

Ortiz (33-2, 28 KOs), 43, a Cuban fighting out of Miami, suffered his only losses by knockout challenging then-titlist Deontay Wilder. But he has won two fights in a row and is coming off a sixth-round knockout of former titlist Charles Martin, who dropped Ortiz in the first and fourth rounds, in the exciting main event of a Fox PPV on Jan. 1 in Hollywood, Florida.

“We’re preparing for the best Andy Ruiz. We know that he’s not just any fighter,” Ortiz said. “He’s a former world champion and that doesn’t happen by luck. I’m ready for him and may the best man win. I’m very excited. The fans are going to see two fighters who love to battle and love to punch and punch hard.

“I got good experience from fighting Charles Martin. There were some hiccups in the fight, but I’m going to carry the lessons that I learned into this fight. I don’t believe there’s any advantage to the fact that I’ve been more active than Andy. I believe in hard work and the mental makeup of a fighter. That’s what I’ve been focusing on day after day. My main objective right now is to win on Sept. 4. Then after that, I’ll see who crawls out and steps up. So far there haven’t been too many at the elite level.”

Gonzalez-Dogboe evenly matched

Featherweight contenders Joet Gonzalez and Isaac Dogboe have both taken losses to Emanuel Navarrete in world title fights and they’re both anxious to get another shot, be it against Navarrete or another titleholder.

To keep the dream alive, at least in the short term, they need to go through each other in the in the 10-round main event of a Top Rank card on Saturday (ESPN+, 6:45 p.m. ET) at Grand Casino in Hinckley, Minnesota.

Gonzalez (25-2, 15 KOs), 28, of Los Angeles, suffered both of his losses in WBO featherweight world title fights, a virtual shutout decision to Shakur Stevenson for the vacant belt in 2019 and a dramatic and punishing decision in October 2021 challenging Navarrete, who acquired the title after Stevenson vacated to move up in weight.

Gonzalez bounced back from the loss to Navarrete with a ninth-round knockout of Jeo Santisima, another of Navarrete’s knockout victims, on March 4 and now can push himself closer to another title shot with a victory.

“This fight has a little bit of everything,” Gonzalez said at the fight-week news conference on Thursday. “There’s motivation. There’s a little more pressure because the opportunity is there for a third world title shot. But I got to get the job done. I’ve got to get past Isaac Dogboe first and then go from there.”

He said he learned from the very tough fight with Navarrete.

“You live and learn each and every day. From that fight, I think I showed most of the people what I’m about and what I’m willing to do to get my hand raised,” said Gonzalez, who took enormous punishment but went the distance. “Unfortunately, I didn’t get my hand raised, but I was in that fight for all 12 rounds. If I was hurt, I wouldn’t have fought the way I fought. For the most part, I made that fight exciting. But it is what it is, and now I can’t wait to face Isaac Dogboe.

“You can expect another exciting fight. I’m here to entertain the fans. I’d fight whoever and whenever. I’d fight all the top fighters. Expect another great fight from me.”

Dogboe (23-2, 15 KOs), 27, of Ghana, is the former WBO junior featherweight world titlist but he lost the 122-pound belt to Navarrete by unanimous decision in December 2018 and then got stopped in the 12th round of an immediate rematch in May 2019.

Following that loss, Dogboe, who is now trained by Barry Hunter, moved up to 126 pounds and has won three fights in a row, but two were by majority decision, including in his last fight against former title challenger Christopher Diaz in November.

“One thing I believe is that without risk there is no reward. I love the challenge. I’m always willing to go in there with whoever is in front of me,” Dogboe said. “I’m really looking forward to this fight. I know that Joet is going to bring it. I’m really looking forward to what he’s going to bring.”

In the 10-round co-feature, lightweight Gabriel Flores Jr. (21-1, 7 KOs), 22, of Stockton, California, will face Giovanni Cabrera (20-0, 7 KOs), 28, of Chicago, in a 10-rounder.

BetUS Boxing Show

If you missed the BetUS Boxing Show live at 1 p.m. ET on Friday on YouTube, please check out the replay (and also subscribe to the YouTube channel). We previewed and picked both of the fights on the main card of Saturday’s Top Rank on ESPN card: featherweight Joet Gonzalez vs. Isaac Dogboe and lightweight Gabriel Flores Jr. vs. Giovanni Cabrera. We also took viewer comments and questions and had some fun! Check it out here:

Quick hits

Weights from Hinckley, Minnesota, for Top Rank’s ESPN+ card on Saturday: Joet Gonzalez 125.6 pounds, Isaac Dogboe 125.8; Gabriel Flores Jr. 135.4, Giovanni Cabrera 135.6; Javier Martinez 160.8, Chino Hill 161; Guido Vianello 244.2, Rafael Rios 250.4; Haven Brady Jr. 127.8, Aaron Echeveste 126.8; Colton Warner 254, Jimmy Barnes 265.6; Abdullah Mason 135, Luis Fernandez 136; Antonio Mireles 269.2, Dennys Reyes 228.6; Dante Benjamin Jr. 172.6, Corey Thompson 174.8; Antonio Woods 161.6, Darryl Jones 162; Cayman Audie 234.2, Anthony Garrett 271.4.

Former super middleweight and light heavyweight titlist Badou Jack, now campaigning at cruiserweight, has been added to the undercard of the Oleksandr Usyk-Anthony Joshua heavyweight title rematch on Aug. 20 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Jack (26-3-3, 16 KOs), 38, of Las Vegas, will face Richie Rivera (21-0, 16 KOs), 31, of Hartford, Connecticut, in a 10-rounder. Jack’s last two fights have been in the Middle East in Dubai.

When MVP Promotions and Showtime announced that lightweight prospect Ashton Sylve and junior welterweight prospect Brandun Lee would box on the Jake Paul-Hasim Rahman Jr. pay-per-view Aug. 6 (Showtime PPV) at Madison Square Garden in New York, their opponents were not announced. Now they have foes. Sylve (7-0, 7 KOs), 18, of Long Beach, California, will face Braulio Rodriguez (20-4, 17 KOs), 33, of the Dominican Republic, in an eight-rounder and Lee (25-0, 22 KOs), 23, of La Quinta, California, will face Will Madera (17-1-3, 10 KOs), 31, of Albany, New York, in the 10-round opener. Showtime also announced a two-part “All Access” series on Paul-Rahman. Episode 1 debuts on the network July 30 (8:30 p.m. ET). The second episode (the epilogue) debuts Aug. 13 (time TBA).

The “Social Gloves” pay-per-view card headlined by a six-round 180-pound fight between YouTube personalities Austin McBroom and AnEson Gib scheduled for July 30 at Crypto Arena in Los Angeles was postponed on Friday “due to the current unavailability of main event fighter AnEson Gib,” organizers said without giving any details. They added that they hope to reschedule the event for early September. The card was also due to include a five-round heavyweight exhibition bout between Adrian Peterson and Le’Veon Bell, both former All-Pro NFL running backs.

Show and tell

I’m always interested in boxing cards and obscure foreign issues are no exception. There is a company in Switzerland that has released card games called “Quartett Legends” for soccer, cycling, tennis, boxing and other sports. Each game comes in a deck and features legends of that particular sport on each card. The cards are slightly larger than a traditional sports card and have a nice illustration of each athlete and some statistical information on the front and a generic back with the game logo. The boxing set, which was released in late 2020, has 40 cards, including Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Larry Holmes, Mike Tyson, Roy Jones, Evander Holyfield, Oscar De La Hoya, Wladimir Klitschko, Manny Pacquiao, Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, Lennox Lewis, Sugar Ray Robinson, Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, Roberto Duran, Marvin Hagler, Salvador Sanchez and many other greats.

I am not entirely sure how the game is supposed to be played but the best as I can figure it out it’s sort of like Go Fish with there being four fighters in each “quartet” and you need to acquire each of them. The player who gets the most “quartets” wins. But I didn’t recently buy a full set to play. I bought it for the cards and my collection! Here are two of the cards, Tyson and Pacquiao.