Hugo Ruiz (36-3, 32 KOs) and Julio Ceja (30-2, 27 KOs) wasted no time making names for themselves in their first meeting last August. In an elevator fight where both men went up and down off the canvas, Ceja came out the victor of a puncher’s battle.
This time there was no screwing around as Ruiz dispatched Ceja in the first minute of the first round of the rematch. Ruiz predicted he would knock Ceja out in the first round, but perhaps he didn’t even know how quickly and brutally the knockout would come.
Coming out of his corner, Ceja pawed a lazy jab which Ruiz slipped. Ruiz came back with a dynamite straight right hand, flooring Ceja who twisted his right ankle on the way down. Ruiz jumped on a limping Ceja and referee Thomas Taylor stopped the bout.
Ruiz noted after the fight that he had been supremely confident in his training camp having taken on a new corner team. The new team seems to have paid dividends as the skill difference between Ruiz and Ceja was clear throughout the short lived massacre.
Ceja was removed from the Honda Center on a stretcher. There is currently no word on the extent of his injuries.
Photos by Stephanie Trapp/Showtime
