By Ryan Burton
On Thursday at the WBO's annual convention, the organization ordered #1 rated heavyweight contender Joseph Parker (21-0) to face their #3 rated contender Andy Ruiz (29-0). The target date for the fight is December 10th with a venue in Parker's homeland of New Zealand hosting the fight.
The title became vacant when former champion Tyson Fury tested positive for cocaine and subsequently relinquished his WBO, WBA and IBO belts. The winner of Parker-Ruiz will then have to face former champion and newly established mandatory challenger David Haye within a 120 day timeframe following their fight.
The 27-year-old Ruiz is now working with world class trainer Abel Sanchez who trains middleweight king Gennady Golovkin, Murat Gassiev, and several others. Ruiz had been working with him earlier this year and Sanchez said that they were able to get him in much better shape in a short period of time.
"I think it was only about 5-6 months ago that for five weeks we had him in Big Bear and we got him down to the mid 250s, 36-37 pound weight loss when he was here. He worked hard and he knew coming in that this was going to be a hard training camp but then again when you fight for a world title regardless of what weight it is - all training camps should be hard. You should prepare yourself so you can put on a good show," Sanchez stated.
While Parker will certainly represent a step up in class for Ruiz, it will also be a step up fight for Parker who has gone 4-0 in 2016.
"You're absolutely right, this is his toughest fight and this is Joseph's toughest fight. They have sparred together in Vegas so they kind of know each other. It is a matter of Andy just paying attention and doing what we ask him and he will be in great shape. His skill set - he's already tested it against Parker so he shouldn't have a hard time. It should be a great fight but I think Andy prevails. His hand speed should be greater than Parker's and it should be a decision for Andy," opined Sanchez.
Ruiz's skill set can be deceiving because of his less than athletic build. Ruiz's promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank, had previously told BoxingScene.com that the Mexican fighter has the fastest hand in the heavyweight division.
Sanchez believes that by having Ruiz in the proper condition, not only will his hand speed improve even more, but that he will be able to maintain it throughout the entire duration of the fight.
"Not only his hand speed but if he is in condition, his hand speed will go from round one to round twelve. Unfortunately for Andy, he hasn't been in the type of condition that a world class fighter needs to be in and he will do great the first 4-5, 6 rounds and then he fizzles out. His hand speed goes because he gets tired. He gets winded so he's not moving his hands like should.
"We hope that in the time we have him here that we are able to change that so that his hand speed is efficient throughout the fight and hopefully because of hand speed, he gets some knockouts. He has gotten knockouts early in fights but not late in fights I think because he gets tired and he's not as sharp so hopefully if he is sharp we will see some knockouts in the later rounds," Sanchez told BoxingScene.com.
Send questions or comments to ringsidewriter@gmail.com. You can follow Ryan on Twitter @ringsidewriter
