Former heavyweight titleholder Andy Ruiz Jr. returns to the ring against veteran Luis Ortiz on pay-per-view Sunday in Los Angeles.
ANDY RUIZ JR. (34-2, 22 KOs)
VS. LUIS ORTIZ (33-2, 28 KOs)
- Date: Sunday, Sept. 4
- Time: 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT (main event later in show)
- Where: Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles
- TV/Stream: Pay-per-view (PPV.com, FITE TV)
- Cost: $74.99 (in U.S.)
- Division: Heavyweight (unlimited)
- Rounds: 12
- At stake: No major titles
- Pound-for-pound ranking: None
- Odds: Ruiz 3-1 favorite (average of multiple outlets)
- Also on the card: Isaac Cruz vs. Eduardo Ramírez, lightweights; Abner Mares vs. Miguel Flores, lightweights; Jose Valenzuela vs. Jezreel Corrales, lightweights; Joey Spencer vs. Kevin Salgado, junior middleweights; Ra’eese Aleem vs. Mike Plania, junior featherweights
- Prediction: Ruiz UD
- Background: Ruiz and Ortiz might be a victory or two away from another world title shot, which makes this an important heavyweight fight. Ruiz appears to be taking his training seriously as he tries to recapture the magic he produced in his first fight against Anthony Joshua in 2019, a seventh-round knockout that gave him three heavyweight titles. An out-of-shape version of Ruiz lost to Joshua in the rematch six months later. The 32-year-old Southern Californian then outpointed Chris Arreola in a comeback fight in May of last year, which was his most-recent bout. That means he will have been out of the ring for 16 months when he faces Ortiz. The 43-year-old Cuban doesn’t have the legs he once did but he retains his power and ring acumen, which makes him a threat to Ruiz and most other heavyweights. He has stopped his two opponents since then-titleholder Deontay Wilder took him out in seven rounds in their 2019 rematch. He stopped Alexander Flores in one round in November 2020 and Charles Martin in six this past January. Ortiz was losing to Martin on all three cards at the time of the stoppage. The card also features the comeback of former three-division titleholder Abner Mares, who hasn’t fought in four years.
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