By Ryan Burton
BoxingScene.com recently spoke to heavyweight prospect Andy Ruiz Jr. (19-0) who will face fellow unbeaten prospect Joe Hanks (21-0) on July 27th in Macau, China. The fight will take place on the undercard of 2 time Olympic Gold medalist Zou Shiming's (1-0) second professional fight which is against Jesus Ortega (3-1).
Ruiz's most recent fight took place on June 8th at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV. The Mexican fighter blasted out Carl Davis less than a minute into the fight to secure the fight against Hanks. Ruiz said that everything went according to plan.
"All of that hard work and dedication paid off. I knew that I had to win this fight to get to China and that is what I came to do. I knew that this fight was important in that it would take me to bigger and better places. I just wanted to get it over with and knock him out," Ruiz stated.
The 23-year-old has been lost over 50 pounds since making his pro debut and has been improving at an accelerated pace. Three of his last four fights have ended with a first round knockouts while the other fight ended via a third round knockout. Ruiz doesn't expect an easy fight in Macau but looks at it as a necessary step on the way to challenging for a world title. Ruiz finished our conversation by saying that he planned on making history by becoming the first Mexican heavyweight champion.
"I know that he is training hard. I am training hard as well. Everybody tune in on July 27th, it is going to be great fight for everyone. I am going to be the first ever Mexican heavyweight champion!" Ruiz told BoxingScene.com.
The Ruiz-Hanks fight will likely be shown on tape delay that evening on UniMas' Solo Boxeo Series.
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