Andy Ruiz Survives a war with Chris Arreola
By Anthony “Stacks” Saldaña
On a beautiful night under the stars at the Dignity Health Sports Park in front of an electric post covid-19 crowd in Carson the former unified and first ever Mexican Heavyweight Champion, Andy “The Destroyer” Ruiz (34-2, 22 KOs) catapulted himself back into title contention with a victory over another Mexican heavyweight and Southern California fan favorite, Chris “The Nightmare” Arreola (38-7-1, 33 KOs). This showdown between two of the most accomplished Mexican heavyweights in boxing history was the main event of Fox Sports PPV. Ruiz and Arreola who both came into the fight in the best shape of their life let the bombs fly, but in a shocking second round it was Arreola who caught Ruiz with a huge right hand to the temple dropping Ruiz who beat the count but was clearly hurt. Arreola and Ruiz continued to throw power-punch after power-punch in a brutal back and forth battle that had both Arreola and Ruiz stunning each other with huge shots throughout the middle rounds of an absolutely exhilarating fight. By the 8th round however Ruiz had shifted the tide of the fight, landing several unanswered shots as Arreola began to slow down and seemed to suffer an apparent arm injury. Both fighters showed incredible intestinal fortitude in the championship rounds leaving nothing on the table in another classic fight at a venue known for its wars and after 12 excruciating rounds the Judges scored the fight (117-110) and (118-109) x2 all in favor of Andy “The Destroyer” Ruiz. After the fight Ruiz stated “Chris is a veteran and a hard puncher. We did what we had to do tonight. We got the victory that we wanted. I was at my lowest point and now I have to climb the ladder again. I’m thankful for the victory and I’m ready to move on to the next. He got me with a good clean right hand in the second round. I was too overconfident and dropped my hand a bit. Hats off to him. We just kept pushing and pushing. I switched up and started focusing on counterpunching and working the body.” A disappointed Arreola stated “I respect the judges, but I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. He might have won, but don’t tell me I only won two or three rounds. I got hit in the shoulder and it kinda threw it off. It wasn’t a big deal though. It’s a part of boxing. I didn’t take too much punishment. I’m ready to run it back with Andy.”
CARSON, CALIFORNIA – MAY 01: (R-L) Abel Ramos punches Omar Figueroa Jr. to a six round knockout win during a welterweight bout at Dignity Health Sports Park on May 01, 2021 in Carson, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
In the co-main event the tough Texan, Omar Figueroa (28-2, 19 KOs) battled Abel Ramos (27-4-2, 21 KOs) in a bout that had bad intentions written all over it. Ramos and Figueroa wasted no time in trying to secure a knockout by throwing everything at each other except the kitchen sink. Ramos however used his power and precise punching to hurt Figueroa early and often in a great back and forth battle. It was in the sixth round when Ramos caught his opponent with several hard body shots which forced the corner of Figueroa to end after the 6th round after they had clearly seen their fighter take too much punishment. “Omar is a very tricky fighter. He has an awkward defense and it was hard to catch him clean at first, but the fight overall went as planned.” Stated Ramos who went on to say “I trained so hard for this fight. I knew my career was on the line. I knew I needed a win and I knew Omar would bring a good fight. I’m glad to be back on the winning side and I’m ready to take on the best of the division. We trained to attack the body. Our plan from the beginning was to pressure him. We wanted to score points to the body. I could hear him groaning and I knew once I hurt him bad, that the fight was over.” I missed the feeling of the crowd cheering. My adrenaline was through the roof. They give you excitement and we missed that in boxing.”
CARSON, CALIFORNIA – MAY 01: (L-R) Sebastian Fundora punches Jorge Cota to a fourth round knockout win, during a super welterweight bout at Dignity Health Sports Park on May 01, 2021 in Carson, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
Also as part of the card, rising star Sebastian “The Towering Inferno” Fundora (16-0, 11KOs) took on world title contender Jorge Cota (30-4, 27 KOs). On paper and in the ring Cota was easily the toughest opponent in Fundora’s young career. From the opening bell the combatants gave the fans a fire fight. Both Cota and Fundora exchanged vicious blows and went toe to toe in an all out war. Cota attempted to size up the much taller Fundora, and gave a valiant effort in a bout that was definitely made for the Gladiator Grounds in Carson. It was in the 4th round that Fundora’s combination punching took a toll on Cota and at the 2:35 mark of round 4 referee Ray Corona had seen enough and called a halt to the bout. “I’m extremely grateful to fight in front of the fans tonight. Stated Fundora, It was fun to hear the cheers, the boos and everything. I’m honored to be in this position. It was a good trading fight. We were hitting each other, but my punches were doing more damage and that’s why the referee stepped in. I think he could have been stopped earlier in the round. I just kept fighting until the end. I saw his leg wobble in the first round, but he took it and kept coming. The second time I saw it, I knew I had to go for the kill. My message to the rest of the division is that we’re here. If you’re ready for war, we’re ready to take it. Bring it on.”
CARSON, CALIFORNIA – MAY 01: (R-L) Jesus Ramos punches Javier Molina to a unanimous decision win during a welterweight bout at Dignity Health Sports Park on May 01, 2021 in Carson, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
To Kick of the Fox Sports PBC PPV Card Saturday night top prospect Jesus Ramos (16-0, 14 KOs) entered the pulled out a unanimous decision victory over local fan favorite Javier Molina (22-4, 9 KOs)in a matchup that put Molina a veteran olympian against a heavy handed blue chip prospect in Ramos. Early on both fighters showed good technical skills and exchanged several combinations and power shots on each other, but the physically bigger Ramos clearly was landing the harder more effective blows. Ramos continued to use his strength and walk through Molinas punches through the middle rounds, as Molina was warned and eventually had a point deducted for hitting behind the head. Molina had no answer for the come forward style of the undefeated prospect Ramos and after 10 rounds of action the judges returned with the scores of (97-92) and (99-92) x2 all in favor of Jesus Ramos. After the fight Ramos stated “It was my second time going the distance and that’s what we wanted. We love knockouts, but we’re glad at this point in my career that I got the experience. I thank Molina for taking the fight, he’s a great fighter.” Ramos went on to say “I might have been looking for a knockout too much in the early rounds. I got used to it and I settled down and I felt like I was breaking him down little by little. He was trying to survive a little bit, so it made it harder to get the knockout. I learned a lot today. I’m going to keep building on that. I feel like I have a lot of momentum. It was a big step up for me and I feel like I showed a lot. I showed I have good conditioning and good movement along with my power. My father told me to invite him to come to me. We were pressuring him to start. My dad had me change it up. He came in a little bit, but then he backed off. That’s how I tried to counteract his movement.”
CARSON, CALIFORNIA – MAY 01: Erislandy Lara poses with the belt after defeating Thomas LaManna for the WBA Middleweight World Championship at Dignity Health Sports Park on May 01, 2021 in Carson, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
In addition to the stacked PPV card and in a lead up fight that ended before it even began. The Cuban star and WBA Super Welterweight Champion Erislandy “The American Dream” Lara (28-3-3, 16 KOs) captured a third world title in a second weight class when he knocked out the veteran contender Thomas “Cornflake” LaManna (30-5-1, 12 KOs) for the WBA Middleweight Title. Lara wasted no time in showing his superior boxing skills in the ring and completely dominated LaManna before landing a vicious overhand left that turned La Manna’s lights out at the 1:20 mark of the 1st round.
