Al Haymon hasn’t discussed potential opponents with Andy Ruiz Jr. just yet.
Now that he has shed some ring rust, however, Ruiz is interested in fighting another dangerous heavyweight who is into his 40s. Luis Ortiz attended the Ruiz-Chris Arreola fight because the strong southpaw wants to face the former heavyweight champion.
Ruiz expressed mutual interest in opposing Ortiz after he beat Arreola by unanimous decision in their 12-round main event Saturday night at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
“We’ve just gotta talk to Al Haymon,” Ruiz said. “And, you know, I think that would be an exciting fight as well, you know, me and Luis Ortiz. But I’ve just gotta get back in the ring, gotta get back on to training, so I could feel good, feel better and take this ring rust out of here. I’m actually happy that it lasted 12 rounds, you know, because, you know, we did the rounds. But, you know, gotta get back to the gym.”
The 31-year-old Ruiz returned to the ring Saturday night for the first time since Anthony Joshua out-boxed him in their 12-round rematch 16 months ago in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia. England’s Joshua (24-1, 22 KOs) won back the IBF, WBA and WBO belts he lost to Ruiz (34-2, 22 KOs), who pulled off one of the biggest upsets in heavyweight history when he dropped Joshua four times and stopped him in the seventh round of their June 2019 bout at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Ruiz recovered from a second-round knockdown against Arreola (38-7-1, 33 KOs, 2 NC), who wobbled Ruiz with a left hook early in the third round as well. The heavily favored Ruiz, of Imperial, California, beat the 40-year-old Arreola by huge margins on all three scorecards (117-110, 118-109, 118-109).
The 42-year-old Ortiz has lost a pair of WBC heavyweight title fights to Deontay Wilder, but beating Ruiz would move him closer to a third title shot. Ortiz (32-2, 27 KOs, 2 NC) knocked out overmatched Alexander Flores (18-3-1, 16 KOs) in the first round of his most recent bout, which took place November 7 at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
That marked Ortiz’s first fight since Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) knocked out the Cuban contender for the second time, in the seventh round of their rematch in November 2019 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Ruiz (34-2, 22 KOs) also is interested in fighting Wilder, who hasn’t boxed since he lost his WBC belt to Tyson Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) in their rematch 14 months ago at MGM Grand Garden Arena.
“That would be an exciting fight,” Ruiz told BoxingScene.com when asked before facing Arreola about boxing Wilder. “That would be an all-action fight. He’s a banger. I’m a banger as well. And he’s fought Chris Arreola before. I’m gonna fight him on May 1st, so I think that would be a really, really good fight. I would love for that fight to happen.”
–boxingscene.com
