By Ryan Burton

Heavyweight contender Andy Ruiz had his first shot at fighting on a high profile card this past November when he appeared on the undercard of Manny Pacquiao's unanimous decision victory over Brandon Rios in Macau.

Ruiz admitted that his nerves affected him, which lead to his slow start, but he was able to find his groove in the third round and was visibly upset when his opponent (Tor Hamer) quit on his stool and didn't answer the bell for the fourth round.

"The first round we were both hitting each other. I was hitting him he was hitting me. Same thing in the second round. I am not going to lie to you guys. I had a little bit of TV shock, it was my first time on pay-per-view, HBO, but I overcame that. I came out in the third round throwing my combinations like I normally do  I don't know, he just gave up, which prevented me from getting the knockout," Ruiz explained while also saying that he would have finished him off himself if the fight had lasted one more round. "I wish he had given me that one more round. I know if I had got to the fourth round I would have finished him but being that he was hurt and quit I guess that says something good about me."

The undefeated Mexican American said that he turned down an opportunity to return to the ring in February and is instead focusing on losing weight.

"Right now my body is under construction. We are just working on the body. There is a lot of criticism and we are going to prove them wrong. I am going to show them that I am serious. I am going to look the part and play the part. I want to be down to 235-240 pounds. When I come back I am going to shock the world. I am going to look different and fight different," Ruiz explained.

Ruiz said that he plans on stepping up his training now that he is close to a title shot. He said that he is tired of being criticized for his weight and wants to be judged by his performances in the ring.

"People don't talk about the way I fight. They talk about how I look. I don't get any credit so I want to get down in weight so they can talk about my fighting and not my appearance.

"Right after my last fight in Macau I realized that I need to step it up. I am at a different level now. I am ranked #3 in the world by the WBO now. This is my time. This year I am going to make a lot of noise," Ruiz told BoxingScene.com.

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