Andy Ruiz Jr. vs Luis Ortiz Preview September 3rd, 2022
Former IBF, IBO, WBO and WBA (Super) Heavyweight Champion Andy Ruiz Jr. of Imperial, California takes on Cuba’s Luis Ortiz this Sunday September 3rd. The fight from Los Angeles, California can be seen live in North America on Fox pay-per-view and those in the UK can catch it on the FITE network. Ruiz last fought in May of last year when he picked himself up from the canvas in round two and beat Chris Arreola by a wide unanimous decision. Ortiz was also decked in his last outing as Charles Martin had him down in the first and fourth rounds in January but he rebounded to stop him in the sixth.
Ruiz Jr. vs Ortiz Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Luis Ortiz +260
- Andy Ruiz Jr. -350
My Pick
The 32-year-old Ruiz, who’s also a former NABF Heavyweight belt holder, has an impressive mark of 34-2 with 22 Ko’s. His first loss was a majority decision for the vacant WBO World Heavyweight Championship against Joseph Parker in December, 2016. His second defeat came at the hands of Anthony Joshua via a unanimous decision in their 2019 rematch. Ruiz had stopped Joshua in the seventh round seven months earlier to take the majority of the world heavyweight titles. He was dropped in the third round while Joshua was down twice in the third and twice in the seventh before it was halted.
Ruiz is an intelligent boxer with an effective jab which he uses to set up his power shots. His best weapons are the left hook and overhand right and he’s been able to stop 14 of his past 22 opponents. There’s no doubt he has good power with a current knockout ratio of 61.1 per cent. Ruiz has boxed 175 rounds since turning pro in 2009 following a decent amateur career and has also beaten the likes of Alexander Dimitrenko, Kevin Johnson, Siarhei Liakhovich, Joe Hanks, Tor Hamer, Ray Austin, Josh Gormley, Franklin Lawrence and Carl Davis.
The ex-champion stands 6-feet-2-inches tall with a 74-inch reach and won the NABA, and WBO Inter Continental Heavyweight Crowns when he stopped Manuel Quezada in the second round in 2014. The knock against Ruiz is that he doesn’t always come into the ring in the best of shape. He was 268 lbs against Joshua in their first fight and 283.5 lbs in their rematch. However, that’s not too bad perhaps, considering he weighed 297.5 lbs in his pro debut. He then weighed in at 256 lbs in his last outing against Arreola.
Luis ‘King Kong’ Ortiz is currently listed as being 43 years old and after an extensive amateur career he enters the ring with a mark of 33-2 with 28 Ko’s. As his record shows, he’s a hard-hitting heavyweight who has a very impressive current knockout ratio of 75.7 per cent. This is his 15th fight since 2015 and he’s has blasted several of his opponents out in four rounds or less. He isn’t interested in hearing what the judges have to say about his performances as he’s always looking for a stoppage with just two of his last 34 fights going the distance.
Ortiz has lost two of his last seven outings though. He appeared to be on the edge of stopping Deontay Wilder in their first meeting in 2018 but couldn’t put him down and was stopped in his shot at the WBC title in the seventh round. He was then halted in the seventh stanza of their rematch in 2019. In addition, Ortiz stopped Lateef Kayode in the first round in 2014 but the bout was later ruled a no-contest after Ortiz failed a drug test. He also fought a three-round no-contest with Joseph Rabotte in 2013 when Rabotte fell out of the ring and wasn’t able to continue.
Ortiz has decent hand speed for a big guy and likes to throw combinations, but other than Martin, Wilder, Bryant Jennings, Christian Hammer, Tony Thompson, Monte Barrett, Bert Cooper and Malik Scott, he hasn’t faced a steady stream of well-known, quality opponents. Still, he’s a solid contender who has 168 rounds of action under his belt since turning pro in 2010 after a pretty good amateur career. He’s got good size at 6-feet-4-inches with 78-inch reach which gives him a two-inch edge in height on Ruiz and a four-inch reach advantage.
Prediction…
The main question concerning Ruiz is typically about his weight and condition while the question that surrounds Ortiz is what is his real age? Ruiz has good boxing skills for a big guy even when he’s out of shape though and as he proved against Joshua and Arreola, he has what it takes to get off the canvas to win. Ortiz also displayed the same characteristic against Martin. Ruiz has the skills to beat Ortiz and he’ll need to use them because I just have a feeling that the oldtimer has the power to beat him if he can eventually land a solid shot.
I’m going with Ortiz’s power here.
Play: Ortiz +260 @ BetOnline.ag
Check out my recent boxing betting picks to see my current form.
Andy Ruiz betting • Luis Ortiz betting