By Craig Page: Luis ‘King Kong’ Ortiz says he’ll be looking for a knockout of Andy Ruiz Jr this Sunday night at the Crypto Arena in Los Angeles, California.
Ortiz (33-2, 28 KOs) has done his homework along with his team and noted the flaws in the 32-year-old Ruiz’s game. As Anthony Joshua revealed, Ruiz (34-2, 22 KOs) is wide open for straight right hands and left hooks.
More importantly, Ruiz is easy to hit with jabs from his taller opponents due to his crouching style and his lack of arm length. For Ruiz to land anything against a taller fighter like the 6’4″ Ortiz, he’s going to need to get in close, and that may prove difficult to do.
Ortiz is going to have to be careful if he goes for the knockout because that’s going to put him in a position to be countered by Ruiz.
Also, you have to believe that if the rounds or even remotely close, the judges will give them to the A-side fighter Ruiz. Although he’s not as popular as Canelo, Ruiz is the home fighter in this bout.
Hopefully, we don’t have a controversial decision in this fight going to the A-side guy Ruiz because that would taint the victory.
“Regardless of him being a Mexican, it’s boxing after all, and things can turn around,” said Luis Ortiz to the media. “The support that he [Ruiz] gets from Mexican fans can turn around in a second, and I love Mexicans. Anything can happen inside a boxing ring, regardless of nationality.
“I come from the school of boxing of adapting to the opponent does, never taking anything for granted. I can tell you that no matter what Andy does, I’m going to go and look for the knockout. That’s the ultimate goal.
“Every training camp is different, but I can guarantee you, we’ve taken this one very seriously. I’m not only going to be the first southpaw but I’m going to be the last one for Andy.
“I thought it was a really even fight against [Chris] Arreola,” said Ortiz when asked about his thoughts on Ruiz’s last fight against 40-year-old Chris Arreola in May 2021.
“I didn’t think it was a unanimous decision. I thought it was closer than people saw it, but it was a good fight, no doubt about it,” said Ortiz.
