Andy Ruiz (33-2) and Chris Arreola (38-6-1) will square off Saturday night at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. The fight will headline a Premier Boxing Champions on FOX pay-per-view.
The all-Mexican heavyweight showdown is sure to produce fireworks with both fighter’s fan friendly styles.
However, most observers believe that the younger Ruiz should have little trouble defeating the 40-year-old Arreola.
World class trainer Kevin Barry falls into the same category. His former fighter, Joseph Parker, handed Ruiz his first career defeat in 2016 and captured the vacant WBO heavyweight title..
He believes that Ruiz has improved since that fight with his improvement culminating in 2019 when he scored a major upset over Anthony Joshua to become a unified champion. The euphoria was short lived as an out of shape Ruiz did too much partying and not enough training after his victory and lost their rematch convincingly a few months later.
Ruiz has since started training side by side with Canelo Alvarez under the guidance of elite trainer Eddy Reynoso.
Barry believes that Ruiz’s newfound dedication to the sport will be a major benefit to his career and will be on display Saturday night.
“Ruiz has climbed the mountain to the top. He has felt all the belts around his waist. This is his chance now to prove that he is one of the elite members in the heavyweight division. It is all up to Andy now. He has the great hand speed and the power. He has the talent and the intelligence. With a new found respect for himself, he is primed for a great performance,” Barry told BoxingScene.com.
Ruiz is known for his fast hands and Barry believes that his speed will pose big problems for Arreola. In fact, he doesn’t believe the fight will reach the 7th round.
“The come forward, take two to give one style of the veteran Chris Arreola will play right into the hands of the fast counterpunching, combination style of Andy Ruiz. The fight could be over in six,” Barry stated.
Send questions or comments to ringsidewriter@gmail.com. You can follow Ryan on Twitter @ringsidewriter