Andy Ruiz Jr says he’s not worried about Luis ‘King Kong’ Ortiz’s tricky southpaw stance ahead of their important WBC heavyweight title eliminator this Sunday, September 4th on FOX Sports PPV at the Crypto Arena in Los Angeles. Fans outside the US can watch the Ruiz vs Ortiz fight card live on FITETV.
Former unified heavyweight champion Ruiz Jr (34-2, 22 KOs) has been training with a lot of southpaws in camp, and he feels that he’s comfortable with that stance.
For Ruiz’s sake, he’d better hope that he’s right because he can ill afford to lose this fight against 43-year-old Ortiz (33-2, 28 KOs) because it could take him years to build himself back up.
As it is, the World Boxing Council gave Ruiz a tremendous break by giving him a #5 ranking with their organization after just one fight in the last three years against the washed-up 40-year-old veteran Chris Arreola last year in May.
With Ruiz’s inactivity and lack of quality opposition fought, he arguably should be ranked at the bottom of the WBC’s rankings instead of at the #5 spot, but, of course, when you have a large fan base like his, it allows you perks that other fighters aren’t given.
“I manage my distance really good, and I counter punch really good, so it hasn’t been affecting me,” said Andy Ruiz Jr. to K.O. Artists Sports when asked if he’s having problems training for the southpaw stance that Luis Ortiz uses.
“Luis Ortiz hurt him [Deontay Wilder] two times and almost became a champion against Wilder. A lot of people think Luis Ortiz is going to beat me, but I’m not going to be arguing with them. ‘Hey, no, he’s not.’ Me and him are going to be fighting on September 4th, and the best man wins.
“I’ve been watching a lot of fights with Luis Ortiz, and everything is going to show on September 4th,” Ruiz continued. “When I started doing mitts with other different trainers, and they were like, ‘Man, this kid of freaking fast, and he’s big. This is unbelievable,'” said Ruiz Jr when asked when he realized that he had faster hand speed than his opponents.
“Once I started sparring, I got confidence, and we started beating people up. That’s when I got my confidence. ‘I can really do this. I’m really fast,’ and it just feels good. It gives you the extra push, especially since my dad has always been supporting me, behind my back, and helping me out,” said Ruiz.
