On Saturday night in Phoenix, AZ, Andy Ruiz (24-0, 17 KOs) beat former heavyweight titlist, Sergei Liakhovich (26-7, 16 KOs), by 10-round unanimous decision.
What was supposed to be an easy fight for Ruiz, turned into a sluggish bore of a fight. Ruiz came out strong and looked like he was going to stop Liakhovich before the end of the second round, but Liakhovich recovered from the early onslaught and took control of the fight in the middle rounds.
Ruiz lost some steem, but seemed to right the ship just enough to win the fight. Whether or not Ruiz has lost his will to train hard in camp or not, he has proven to not come into 12-round ready shape.
Can he make the jump from prospect to contender? That’s up to him and how hard he wants to train, but he does have the talent to make the leap.
Also on the fight card for Iron Boy 18, Oscar Valdez won after beating his opponent, Jean Sotelo. Valdez forced his opponent to quit on his stool after the fourth round.
The undefeated prospect looked impressive, hurting the outmatched Sotelo many times early on. After a very busy 2014, with six wins under his belt, Valdez expects a even better 2015. A lot of good things are on the horizon for the young fighter from Nogales, Mexico.
In a lightweight bout, Daniel Echeverria won by six-round unanimous decision over Noe Lopez Jr. Fighting for the first time in the United States, Echeverria fought a smart, good fight against the durable Lopez. He improved his record to 15-0 with 13 knockouts.
Joet Gonzalez showed great promise by blasting Jaime Gutierrez in the third round to win by knockout. The Los Angeles native fought in Phoenix for the first time and did not disappoint the Arizona crowd. He improves his record to 8-0 with three knockouts.
Also on the under card, Phoenix fan favorite Trevor McCumby won by knockout in the last round of a scheduled six-round fight. He pummeled Milton Nunez all night, improving his record to 18-0 with 14 knockouts.
ALL OTHER RESULTS Erick De Leon W UD6 Jose Morales Francisco De Vaca W UD6 Sergio Najera David Benavidez W UD6 Azamat Umarzoda Alexis Zuzueta W UD4 Juan Carlos Diaz
All photos by Mikey Williams/Top Rank
