And it appeared that the issues weren’t fully resolved against Ortiz, who is a particularly clever southpaw with fight-ending power. He reportedly had problems adjusting to southpaw sparring partners early in camp. Ruiz had never faced a left-handed opponent before Sunday, which was significant. I believe there was more to it than sticking to a game plan, though. That’s essentially what Ruiz did, which resulted in the knockdowns and the unanimous decision victory. Ruiz (35-2, 22 KOs) would say “nothing.” The strategy devised by Ruiz and trainer Alfredo Osuna evidently was to box, wait for Ortiz to commit and then counter with quick, hard combinations. That allowed Ortiz (33-3, 28 KOs) to stay in the fight in spite of the knockdowns, winning six rounds on two cards and seven on the third. According to CompuBox, Ortiz threw 428 punches, Ruiz only 287 (24 per round). Otherwise, Ruiz did more waiting than punching and was outworked by his 43-year-old, weak-legged opponent in a lackluster fight. The former unified titleholder looked terrific for three moments, the moments when he put Ruiz down – twice in Round 2 and once in Round 7. If he wanted to make a statement, well, he didn’t have a great night. If Andy Ruiz Jr.’s only goal was the have his hand raised in his comeback fight against fellow heavyweight contender Luis Ortiz on Sunday in Los Angeles, then he succeeded.
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