In a WBA world heavyweight title eliminator, former unified champion Andy Ruiz Jr. 34-2 (22 KOs) scored a hard earned twelve round unanimous decision over 3 time world title challenger Chris Arreola 38-7-1 (33 KOs) on Saturday in the first all Mexican heavyweight showdown of this magnitude in front of 4000 at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California in what was the first spectator accessible boxing event since the COVID lockdown. The fight which was televised on FOX Sports and PBC Pay-Per-View in the United States was every bit as good as it promised, both guys came to fight and betting underdog Arreola caused the first shock of the evening by dropping Ruiz with a short right hand in the second. Ruiz weathered the storm and appeared to dictate the tempo of the majority of the bout from then on. Arreola slowed down steadily throughout the fight allowing Ruiz to land the more eye catching work. Arreola consistently stood his ground over the stretch, causing damage to the former champions face despite struggling with a shoulder injury. Both guys stood toe to toe until the end and no one could question the commitment of either man at the final bell. Ringside judges had Ruiz winning a wide unanimous decision with scores of 118-109, 118-109, and 117-110.
“He got me with a good clean right hand in the second round,” said Ruiz. “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.”
“I felt a little rust and I know other fighters can relate to that. If he wants to run it back, we’ll run it back with him.”
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 kind of 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.”
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