Andy Ruiz, the first Mexican boxer to become world heavyweight champion, appeared this Thursday before the communication media in advance of his fight on Sunday against Cuban Luis Ortiz, and stated that he now focuses more on boxing and less on his fitness.
“I’m more focused on boxing. In my last fight I was more focused on my weight, on how I looked, listening to comments from 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, aged 20, became a figure in Mexican boxing by winning surprisingly in 2019 the British Anthony Joshua, from whom he snatched the heavyweight world titles of three organizations.
In that fight, Ruiz became the first Mexican to be a monarch in boxing’s biggest division, but he was criticized for being overweight.
After losing the titles to Joshua in the rematch, the Hispanic boxer decided to lose weight and become more athletic, something that in his opinion hurt him when he left doubts in his victory over Mexican-American Chris Arreola in May of 2022.
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 a world championship challenger.
“Ortiz’s plan is to knock me out, but I have trained hard for both scenarios: to knock out or make a full fight of 12 rounds. When a person goes in search of a knockout, he makes mistakes and pays the price”, added the Mexican who has a record of 33 victories , 22 on the fast track, and a couple of defeats.
Cuban Luis Ortiz, from 43 years, he also sees the fight against Ruiz as the opportunity to return to the limelight in the heavyweight division and win his first world title.
“I keep what 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 victories, 22 before time, and two falls.
Ortiz has won his last two fights by knockout, first against the 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.