Andy Ruiz Jr. got back into the win column, but it was a lot more difficult than he might have expected.
The former unified world heavyweight champion survived a second-round knockdown and followed trainer Eddy Reynoso's gameplan to punch a unanimous decision victory over a very game Chris Arreola at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif., and live on pay-per-view Saturday night. Judges had it 117-110, 118-109, and 118-109, all in favor of Ruiz.
"We did what we had to do to get the victory," Ruiz said.
After Ruiz looked razor-sharp with his jab in the first round, Arreola caught him with a punishing right to the temple for a knockdown in the second. In the third, Arreola badly hurt Ruiz with a left hook, which nearly delivered another knockdown.
But during the fourth and fifth rounds, Ruiz began inviting Arreola to move forward as the aggressor. He then began finding a comfort zone as a counterpuncher. That would pave the way for Ruiz to sit back and carve out enough space between him and Arreola to land his jab at will — whether to the body or upstairs — while also opening up his offense to connect on lightning-quick combinations.
The eighth round had Ruiz finding a rhythm with his jab and ring generalship, even stunning Arreola in the shoulder with a flush shot. Arreola grimaced and shook out his shoulder in an attempt to get some feeling back in it. He'd have to do the same in the 11th round as well.
Despite some desperation attempts by Arreola in the 12th, Ruiz was the sharper fighter, having recovered from that second-round knockdown to assert the jab and box his way to banking a majority of rounds thereafter.
Arreola felt the scores should have been much closer, but there was no doubt that Ruiz had successfully weathered the early storm and made the adjustments necessary to win comfortably.
Here's how the entire event went.
Ruiz vs. Arreola main card
- Andy Ruiz Jr. def. Chris Arreola by unanimous decision (117-110, 118-109, 118-109); Heavyweight
- Abel Ramos def. Omar Figueroa Jr. via sixth-round TKO; Welterweight
- Sebastian Fundora def. Jorge Cota by fourth-round TKO; Junior Middleweight
- Jesus Ramos def. Javier Molina via unanimous decision (99-90, 99-90, 97-92); Welterweight