By Jake Donovan

A lot was made of the leaner and meaner version of Andy Ruiz showing up for his September 26 headliner on UniMas. The 26-year old once put the "heavy" in "heavyweight" but has made a conscious effort to whip himself into physical and fighting shape these days.

With that came a 247¾  lb. version of the unbeaten contender, in a bout that came on relative short notice. Ruiz Jr. was added to the Sept. 26 show after original headliner Jose Ramirez was forced to withdraw due to injury.

Ruiz managed an eight-round win over Joell Godfrey, a very late replacement for Devin Vargas. As Godfrey chose to stick and move rather than engage, Ruiz escaped without a scratch and is able to move forward with plans to return on October 24.

He will face Raphael Zumbrano on the non-televised undercard of Terence Crawford's HBO-televised homecoming showdown versus Dierry Jean in Omaha, Nebraska. An injury-free win figured to lead to one more fight in 2015, a placement on the December 5 card in Fresno, Calif. topped by Jose Ramirez, whose injury will be healed by then.

While Ruiz' weight dominated pre-fight discussion prior to last month's win over Godfrey, his improved training habits continue to tell the tale of the fighter he wishes to become.

"I felt pretty good in the fight and will only get better," Ruiz (25-0, 17KOs) told BoxingScene.com of his performance in his first fight since a win over former heavyweight champ Sergei Liakhovich last December. A nine-month hiatus was the result of a combination of things: healing an injured hand, and heeding to demands from his team - including Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum and no-nonsense trainer "Big" Jeff Grmoja - that he change his ways before any more time and money is invested into his career.

So far, so good, and his improved habits didn't end at the scales prior to fight night.

"I only took a week off after the fight, just to clear my head before going right back into the gym. My stamina is improving along with the weight," notes Ruiz Jr.

As for the biggest change regarding his downtime following this fight compared to his other 24 fights?

"No junk food, no indulging," Ruiz notes. "I took a mini-break, had fun with my family at Universal Studios just to decompress.

"I went into camp earlier this week weighing 254 lbs - I gained (less than) seven pounds, but have already worked that off."

That he's now taking the steps to show up in shape is a relief to his trainer, as babysitting is longer in his job description.

"It gives me a much better feel of confidence," admits Grmoja. "Everyone always thought he has a lot of potential, but it was getting lost in the way he showed up to fights.

"It makes it much easier when you have a fighter who is focused and who can do what you always believed he could do."

Ruiz promised to be in the mid-240's for his last fight, and hit that mark. For his upcoming showdown versus Zumbrano, a targeted weight is in mind, but not quite as important as an intended physique.

"I lost enough weight last time to have loose skin," Ruiz quipped. "I'm going to tighten up my body, hopefully hit 240. We're not trying to get super light, so staying around 240 ideal. If anything, it will increase the power and speed, but I have to tighten everything up first."

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com.

Twitter: @JakeNDaBox

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