Bob Arum doles out high praise for flabby, Mexicali heavyweight Andy Ruiz Jr.

When ultra-flabby heavyweight Andy Ruiz Jr. of Mexicali first started fighting on some noteworthy cards, his opponents must have been licking their chops as soon as he came into the ring. This guy makes Chris Arreola look svelte.

They don’t any longer, of course, because by now Ruiz has shown that his many rolls of fat notwithstanding, he can flat-out fight. At about 6-foot-1 1/2, he weighs about 245 to 250 pounds. That’s after starting his pro career at nearly 300.

Don’t look now, but he’s ranked as high as 12th in one of the major governing bodies.

Promoter Bob Arum talked about Ruiz last week at Freddie Roach’s gym in Hollywood.

“Like, his opponent comes into the ring and his opponent says, ‘Fat boy, I’m going to knock your (butt) out,’ ” Arum said. “But this kid, he takes an unbelievable punch and has the fastest hands of any heavyweight since (Muhammad) Ali. Unbelievable. That’s what everybody says.”

Ruiz is 19-0 with 13 knockouts and has won his past five fights by knockout. He will take on Joe Hanks (21-0, 14 KOs) on July 27 at Venetian Casino & Resort in Macao, China (on UniMas).

 

 

 

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