By: Sean Crose
One thing is certain – Andy Ruiz is not James “Buster” Douglas. People had taken to comparing the two men after an out of shape Ruiz showed up to his rematch with Anthony Joshua and was easily beaten. Those who were around and of a certain age in 1990 were given clear memories of Douglas, who, after shocking the world by besting Mike Tyson, arrived for his first defense against Evander Holyfield overweight and under-prepared. Like Ruiz would be years later, Douglas was easily handled. The comparisons, simply put, were apt – at the time.
Now however, we seem to have a new Ruiz. He certainly LOOKS determined in the training camp footage that’s been making the rounds. He appears much leaner than the last time he was in the ring, as well. In interviews, the former heavyweight titlist is saying all the right things, and his discipline level seems to be where it should for a fighter of his caliber. Now the 33-2 Ruiz just has to get past the popular 38-6-1 Chris Arreola when they meet Saturday night in Carson, California as the main attraction of a pay per view card presented by Fox and Premiere Boxing Champions.
Although Ruiz is clearly the favorite walking into the ring this weekend, the likeable and rugged Arreola has been looking lean and mean himself. Plus, no one who knows anything about heavyweight boxing would deny that Arreola knows how to throw down. He may not possess Ruiz’ speed or footwork, but he’s a guy willing to go through the fire. Arreola also knows this is probably his last chance at glory. Ruiz may have everything to lose with a poor showing this Saturday, but Arreola pretty much has nothing to lose. That sort of scenario has the makings of a good fight.
The 28-1-1 Omar Figueroa will appear on the pay per view portion of Saturday’s card, as well. He’ll be engaged in a scheduled 12 round welterweight affair against the 26-4-2 Abel Ramos. Both these men are coming off losses to Yordenis Ugas, which is odd enough. What’s not odd, though, is the fact that each fighter needs a win right now. The 16-0-1 super middleweight Sebastian Fondura will also be fighting on the pay per view side of things (there’s an earlier undercard which will be aired live on regular Fox). He’ll be going up against the 30-4-0 Jorge Cota. Fondura was last seen stopping Habib Ahmed in two, while Cota’s last fight saw him topping Thomas Lamanna in five.
Lastly, the 15-0 welterweight Jesus Ramos will be facing off against the 22-3 Javier Molina in a scheduled 10 rounder. The rising Ramos was previously seen knocking out Jesus Bojorquez in February. Molina, on the other hand, was last in action back in September, when he dropped a unanimous decision to Jose Pedraza.
