By Ryan Burton
BoxingScene.com recently caught up with heavyweight contender Andy Ruiz (18-0), who had a successful return to the ring in March when he knocked out Mathew Greer in the first round of their fight that took place on the Tim Bradley-Ruslan Provodnikov undercard last month in California.
"We trained really hard and I stuck to my game plan, hitting him to the body and up top. Everything worked out and now I'm just waiting for my HBO fight," Ruiz explained while also mentioning a possible fight against Joe Hanks that would be televised by HBO if it comes to fruition.
The fight could be part of a June or July tripleheader that will be headlined by Mikey Garcia. Ruiz is very confident that he will leave the ring a winner if that fight gets made.
"I heard it might be Joe Hanks. He's an undefeated fighter, I'm an undefeated guy so it should be a good fight. He's pretty big, tall, with a long reach but I think with my pressure and my speed that I will be too much for him. Exactly what I said when I fought Greer," Ruiz stated.
Ruiz said that he has been working hard to get his weight down. While he will likely never have the sculpted physique of a prime Evander Holyfield or Mike Tyson, Ruiz feels that he can still get down a little lower.
"I'm training harder and I'm trying to get slimmer," said Ruiz who already has lost more than 50 pounds since his pro debut. "I fought (my last fight) at 246. That's the lowest I've been. I finished my fight in one round and I felt good. My goal is to get down to 240," he finished.
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