Andy Ruiz wins battle of the unbeaten heavyweights in China.

In a battle of unbeaten heavyweight prospects, the deceptively talented Andy Ruiz took on New Jersey's Joe the future Hanks Friday night in the unlikely setting of the luxurious Cotai Arena in the Venetian resort, Macao China.   Both Hanks and Ruiz on paper have impressive credentials , Joe coming in with 21 straight wins with 14 knockouts against Ruiz's similar 19 straight with 14 early.  The old adage of dont judge a book by its cover sprung to mind as body beautiful Hanks started confidently looking to continue his run of luck against the fleshy Californian based Mexican, but Ruiz stood fast and showed impressive patience by flashing the quicker hands over Hanks. Around the third it was evident that Ruiz had all of the natural advantages over Joe, who looked half paced in comparison. The breakthrough came in the fourth when Andy shocked Joe with a cluster of well placed heavy handed punches dropping him briefly before knocking his opponent down again causing referee Rafael Ramos to call a halt at 1.41 of the round. Both men are actually decent fighters with Ruiz being the natural puncher of the two and a slightly better quality of opposition between the pair. Surprisingly it looked like the less sculpted Ruiz was the better conditioned of the two with the muscular Hanks appearing gassed at the conclusion showing evidence that looks can be quite deceiving in heavyweights especially in the building stages of a fighters career. This match was for the vacant WBO intercontinental heavyweight title and it was quite a rare treat to watch. Plenty of options for Ruiz in the coming months with perhaps a meeting with the winner of the Wilder v Liakhovich fight a possibility. Andy Ruiz had been preparing for this at Bones Adams gym in Las Vegas and continues a threat to all who look past his physical appearance...  He is to be respected.