|
Imperial native and undefeated heavyweight boxer Andy Ruiz poses before his undercard bout against Matthew Greer on Saturday at the Home Depot Center in Carson City, Calif. (PHOTO COURTESY OF RUIZ FAMILY / March 20, 2013) |
Imperial native and undefeated heavyweight boxing prospect Andy Ruiz has come a long way since his early days training in his grandfather’s gym in Mexicali. He wasn’t sure he wanted to be a fighter back then, and now he knows he wants to be the heavyweight champion of the world.
The 23-year-old just improved his professional record to 18-0 (12 KOs) with a first-round demolition of veteran fighter Matthew Greer (15-10, 13 KOs) at the Home Depot Center on Saturday’s undercard of the Timothy Bradley-Ruslan Provodnikov championship fight shown on HBO.
“When I was young I didn’t know if this is something I wanted to do. I trained because my grandfather and my dad were into it,” Ruiz said. “When I was boxing with the Mexican Olympic team is when I got more motivated and realized this is something I could really do.”
Saturday, Ruiz used his speed and punching power to dismantle Greer and stop the veteran at 2:53 of the first round. Ruiz knocked Greer down three times, including once with a devastating right hook to the body.
“I hit him with some body shots and you could hear they were taking a lot out of him. He would groan each time I hit him in the body,” Ruiz said. “You could see him trying to protect his body with his elbows.”
Greer fought against former heavyweight title holder James Toney in September 2009 and made it into the second round before being knocked out.
“I knew he’d fought James Toney and I thought I’d at least get three rounds out of him, but I hit him with some good shots,” Ruiz said. “I was in shape to go eight rounds. We had been sparring with four-minute rounds so when I got in there, three minutes didn’t seem like that much work.”
Ruiz, who has hired a nutritionist, entered the ring at 246 pounds, the lightest of his professional career.
“Andy is a great kid and he is believing in this process. Now he realizes that nutrition and eating the right foods is just as essential as his training,” said Joe Gagliardi, Ruiz’s manager. “He’s getting the big picture and it’s great to see him maturing like he is.”
Gagliardi said he is attempting to get Ruiz’s next fight televised on HBO, hopefully within the next few months.
“The fans love to watch him fight because they know he’s not going to give you a bad performance,” Gagliardi said.
When he is in the Imperial Valley, Ruiz spends a lot of his time at his new barbershop, Chippers, 2299 W. Adams Ave. in El Centro, where he also has a clothing line where fans can get T-shirts and other sportswear.
“I love to represent the Imperial Valley, in my fights and here now with the new business,” Ruiz said. “We had a lot of fans go up for the fight and my sponsors …. have always been huge supporters.”
To comment on this story click here to be directed to Facebook.
