Photos by Hogan Photos/Golden Boy Promotions
Tonight’s main event between Diego De La Hoya (18-0,9 KOs) and Erik Ruiz (16-6-1, 6 KOs) went as expected.
De La Hoya won via unanimous decision (100-92, 99-91 twice). He had a clear edge in skill and used this to outbox his opponent from start to finish.
Ruiz had moments in the middle rounds, but anything that landed cleanly on De La Hoya was immediately returned. He was hit cleanly a few times, but that only managed to bring furious punches back to Ruiz.
De La Hoya’s best punch was his jab. He threw it effectively in every round. His conditioning was exceptional, maintaining the same sharpness to his punches until the very end. De La Hoya managed to be offensive, while maintaining his movement on the outside.
“My sparring partners during camp were heavier and bigger than Ruiz, so my opponent did not hurt me at all tonight,” said De La Hoya.
“When I got hit, it woke me up and gave me the confidence to do my thing. I didn’t give Ruiz the opportunity to slow me down with anything he threw at me,” said De La Hoya.
“Diego is a good fighter; I respect him and give him props,” said Ruiz.
“I didn’t expect him to box as much as he did. I thought it was closer than the judges saw it but the last name says it all. I felt his power here and there but not as much as I expected. I thought my power hurt him more than he hurt me. I don’t think Diego showed enough of his skills today; he ran more than he showed his skills,” said Ruiz.
The big concern for De La Hoya is his lack of power. He threw and landed 10 punch combinations, yet never really hurt Ruiz.
There was never a sense that Ruiz was in danger of being stopped, despite losing almost every round. It will be interesting to see how De La Hoya matches up against someone with top level skill.
There’s no doubt about his boxing ability, but if he is ever in a fight that requires a knockdown he could be in trouble.
Diego De La Hoya defeats Erik Ruiz by UD. #Boxing pic.twitter.com/F8fY6FOEYF
— RoundByRoundBoxing (@RBRBoxing) May 19, 2017
