Photo: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
Andy Ruiz, the first Mexican boxer to become world heavyweight champion, appeared this Thursday before the communication media prior to his fight on Sunday against Cuban Luis Ortiz, and stated that now he focuses more on boxing and less on his fitness.
“I am focused more on boxing. In my last fight I was more focused on my weight, how I looked, listening to comments of people outside the ring, instead of being part of the fight”, said the Mexican who will enter the ring at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California.
Ruiz, 32, became a figure in Mexican boxing by surprisingly beating British Anthony Joshua in 2019from whom he snatched the world heavyweight titles from three organizations.
In that fight, Ruiz became the first Mexican to be a monarch in the largest division of boxing, but was criticized for looking overweight.
After losing the titles to Joshua in the rematch, the Hispanic boxer set out to lose weight and become more athleticsomething that in his opinion harmed him when he left doubts in his victory over the Mexican-American Chris Arreola in May 2021.
The Mexican stated that the duel against the Cuban is transcendental for his career because he considered that in case of winning he would be among the candidates for challengers for a world championship.
“Ortiz’s plan is to knock me out, but I have trained hard for both scenarios: to knock out or do a full 12 round fight. When a person goes in search of the knockout, he makes mistakes and pays the price”, added the Mexican who has a record of 34 wins, 22 on the fast track, and a couple of losses.
Cuban Luis Ortiz, 43, also sees the fight against Ruiz as the opportunity to return to the forefront in the heavyweight division and win his first world title.
“I keep what I said, I’m going to knock him out, that’s what boxing lives for. We train to win and the best thing is to win fast. We train to destroy our rival,” said Ortiz, who has 33 wins, 28 prematurely, and two losses.
Ortiz has won his last two fights by knockout, first against American Alexander Flores in November 2020 and then against fellow American Charles Martin last January.
“The Cuban school from childhood teaches you to be a warrior, to fight for snacks. I feel good. This is a fight that many of us have waited for, two warriors who have the desire to fight for the title again”, stated the Caribbean.
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– Gennady Golovkin sends a message to the judges of the trilogy: “I hope they are fair”
Source-eldiariony.com