By Dan Ambrose: #14 IBF heavyweight contender Andy Ruiz (25-0, 17 KOs) stayed unbeaten with an 8 round unanimous decision win over 34-year-old journeyman Joel Godfrey (17-15-1, 6 KOs) on Saturday night at the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino in Lemoore, California.
The 6’2”, 247 pound Ruiz Jr. battered the over-matched Godfrey with heavy blows to the head and body in each round of the fight. The judges scored the fight 80-72, 80-72 and 80-72.
Ruiz Jr. attempted to score a quick knockout early in the fight when went all out in the first couple of rounds to get Godfrey out of there. When the knockout failed to come, Ruiz Jr. slowed down his pace and focused on throwing hard shots to the body and head on the inside.
Godfrey let Ruiz Jr. fight at the slow pace that he needed to for him to be successful. Ruiz Jr. struggles when his opponents force him to work at a fast pace. He’s got too much fat on him and that causes him to gas out quickly when he has to work faster than his normal slow pace.
For Ruiz Jr., it was a much better performance than he’d put in last December when he had to labor to a 10 round decision over veteran Siarhei Liakhovich. Ruiz Jr. weighed 267 pounds for that fight and looked considerably overweight. Liakhovich was able to fight Ruiz Jr. almost even terms. The scoring for the fight was controversial with Ruiz Jr. being given a wide decision win in a fight that was almost even.
Ruiz Jr. will be back in action next month on October 24th against journeyman Raphael Zumbano Love (37-11-1, 30 KOs) in an eight round contest at the CenturyLink Center, in Omaha, Nebraska.
Ruiz Jr. has been a pro since 2009. His progress has been slow in coming up the heavyweight ladder in the last six years. The World Boxing Council had Ruiz Jr. ranking well in their organization, but he’s no longer ranked in their top 15. At #14 IBF, Ruiz Jr. is ranked really low with the IBF.
If he continues to be matched the way he’s been since he turned pro, it might take him a long time for him to get a title shot. While Ruiz Jr. is still young at 26, he doesn’t seem to be improving despite being fed one journeyman opponent after another. It’s unclear what Ruiz Jr’s end game is.
If they just want to get him a title shot so that he can get a payday in a fight that he would likely lose badly, then they’re going to need to start putting him in with better opposition soon. But it seems pretty obvious that the quality of opposition that Ruiz Jr. is being fed isn’t helping him get pushed up the rankings despite him winning each time.
Ruiz Jr. looked really awful against Liahovich and he deserved little more than a draw in that fight. It’s kind of troubling that a fighter like Ruiz Jr. couldn’t destroy Liakhovich, because he’s been previously knocked out in one round by Deontay Wilder two years ago in 2013. Ruiz Jr. doesn’t look like he’s getting better with each fight. He looks like he’s getting worse in the last two years. It might be better for Ruiz Jr’s promoters at Top Rank to go for broke and start putting Ruiz Jr. in with some solid heavyweight contenders. If he loses, then they can cut their losses and move in another direction with other fighters.
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Lightweight Andy Vences (13-0, 9 KOs) stayed perfect with an easy 1st round knockout over Andres Bustamante (5-7, 1 KOs) on the undercard. The fight was halted after Bustamante injured his right arm during the round. The referee halted the fight at 2:13 of the round.
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In other mismatch on the card, light welterweight Alex Rojas (1-0, 1 KOs) blasted out Gabriel Solorio (0-1-1) by a quick 1st round knockout.
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