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Published 2 May 2021
Andy Ruiz Jr returns to winning ways in his first fight since the rematch with Anthony Joshua; he has shed significant weight and linked up with Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez’s trainer but was forced to climb off the canvas to beat Chris Arreola.
Andy Ruiz Jr was floored but overcame the early struggles to out-box Chris Arreola in his return to the ring on Saturday night in California.
He won a unanimous decision in his first fight since conceding the world heavyweight championships back to Anthony Joshua in their rematch in December 2019, a battle he lost after gaining weight and blaming “partying”.
| Last updated
12:01 AM, May 03 2021 GMT+1
Andy Ruiz Jr got back to winning ways on Saturday night, defeating Chris Arreola, but his opponent wasn t at all happy with the judges scorecards.
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Ruiz Jr hadn t been in the ring since being badly beaten by Anthony Joshua in their rematch in December 2019, when there was lots of criticism of the Mexican s preparation.
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The former world champion was actually knocked down in the opening round but managed to recover to control the fight later on.
Arreola continued to put in a great effort, even when Ruiz got on top, and took it all the way to the end of the 12th round, to take it to the judges scorecards.
Posted on 05/02/2021
By: Hans Themistode
A socially distanced packed house at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California waited patiently for the main event to begin last night. Featured, was the return of former unified heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz Jr. and fringe contender Chris Arreola.
While most of the eyes watching them last night were simply interested in seeing how their contest would shake out, heavyweight contender Luis Ortiz was there on a business trip.
“The fight was good,” said Ortiz during an interview with FightHype.com. “The fight was really interesting. He now has the opportunity, I’ll wait for his decision. Kong is right here. I came to watch him, wished him good luck in his fight and he knows I want to fight.”
Former unified world heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz Jr returned to the ring on Saturday night for the first time since his December 2019 defeat to Anthony Joshua.
The 31-year-old made plenty of changes in the lead-up to his bout with Chris Arreola this weekend. Aside from linking up with new trainer Eddy Reynoso - who famously looks after Saul Canelo Alvarez - Ruiz also dropped an astonishing 27 pounds in body weight. The Destroyer entered Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California looking to make a major statement against 48-fight veteran Arreola.
However, things got off to a very rocky start for Ruiz when he was forced to take a knee after Arreola landed a huge overhand right in the second. Ruiz survived the round, shuffling back to his corner once it had ended.