By Allan Fox: Luis ‘King Kong’ Ortiz predicts a knockout win over former unified heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz Jr on September 4th in their fight on FOX Sports PBC pay-per-view at the Crypto Arena in Los Angeles.
(Photo credit: Ryan Hafey/Premier Boxing Champions)
The two big heavyweights met earlier today on Wednesday for their Los Angeles kickoff press conference for their bout on September 4th.
Ruiz looked in good shape, back from knee surgery that has kept him out of the ring for the last 14 months. Ruiz will have been out of action for 16 months by the time he faces Ortiz in September.
For Ruiz, that’s par for him, as he’d been out of the ring for 17 months the last time he fought a year ago against journeyman Chir Arreola.
The habitual inactivity for Ruiz is problematic, as it appears he’s lost his hunger after pulling in a fortune of $10 million for his two fights with Anthony Joshua. When a person sits on an immense fortune, you can’t blame them for not continuing to work as they’d before.
Although the 43-year-old former two-time world title challenger Ortiz (33-2, 28 KOs) is 11 years older than the 32-year-old Ruiz (34-2, 22 KOs), he’s taken care of his health and not repeatedly ballooned up in weight to the 300s by overeating.
In terms of physical health, Ortiz has taken care of himself better than Ruiz, and for that reason, he hasn’t had to take off a drastic amount of weight.
Ruiz looked emaciated in his last fight after dropping down from the 310 lb region to 256 lbs for his fight against 40-year-old Chris Arreola the previous year in May.
“My main objective right now is to win on September 4,” said Luis Ortiz during Wednesday’s press conference. “Then, after that, I’ll see who crawls out and steps up. So far, there haven’t been too many at the elite level.”
“This fight is going to end in a knockout. I’m sure Andy thinks the same thing. This one isn’t going to go 12 rounds,” said Ortiz.
Some boxing fans believe that Ruiz’s punch resistance has disappeared due to his massive weight loss. He’s taken off nearly 70 lbs of fat, and when you lose that kind of weight, it does something to you.
Even dropping 30 lbs can weaken a fighter. It’s hard to imagine losing the kind of weight that Ruiz has and being able to compete at the level that he once did. That weight loss for Ruiz may have wrecked his career.
Like Samson, losing his strength after having his haircut, Ruiz has lost something from his game after dropping a ton of weight.
“I think this is a similar fight for me to the Anthony Joshua fight; it’s just that he’s a lefty,” said Ruiz. “We have a great team, and we’re working hard. September 4 is going to be a hell of a fight.
“This might not go the distance, but I’m prepared to go all 12 rounds. We’re going to get this victory no matter what on September 4.”
