By Jake Donovan
Much of the new penny shine has already been removed from the young career of Jesus Ruiz.
But at the very least, the 20-year old managed to once again find the winner’s circle.
Ruiz returned to the scene of his disappointing loss two months ago, this time producing a far more favorable result. The Mexican bantamweight controlled nearly every second of his 12-round shutout over Julio Ler on Friday evening at the Jose Cuervo Salon in Polanco, Durango Mexico.
There was little to differentiate between any of the rounds. Ruiz, four inches taller and ten years younger than his opponent, boxed, boxed and boxed some more as Ler did little more than plod forward behind a high but leaky guard. The pattern never changed – Ruiz threw, Ler waved his hands in efforts to prove his machismo, Ruiz threw and landed some more.
The crowd did their best to remain lively, alternating chants of “Ruiz” and “Mexico” in their greatest efforts to inspire their homeboy. Ruiz occasionally threw his fans a bone, taking the fight to the Argentinean in the third and fourth rounds. Each time Ruiz landed a combination, Ler threw his hands up and fronted like he was ready to fight back, only to go back to doing absolutely nothing.
As inactive as were the early rounds, they would contain the lion’s share of the limited amount of action the bout had to offer. Things slowed to a crawl midway through, to where you could hear each individual conversation taking place in the crowd.
Ruiz woke up the crowd late in the seventh with a right uppercut that rocked Ler as he was trapped in a corner. The punch came too late in the round, however, landing just before the bell, denying Ruiz the opportunity to follow through.
Sporadic flurries also came late in the eighth, and again in the ninth and tenth rounds. Ler momentarily backed up on each occasion, before regaining his footing and resuming the role of inactive punching bag.
Brief drama surfaced in the 10th round, when Ler was warned for rabbit punching, a shame considering it was a rare moment where he actually threw a punch.
The championship rounds (a fringe regional title was at stake) saw Ruiz dominate the action solely on the strength of his jab. Ler actually punched back on two separate occasions in the 12th and final round, though with little conviction in either instance. The crowd, having long ago grown restless, booed the combatants down the stretch and once again at the final bell, while some politely applauded, perhaps in appreciation that it was finally over.
Scoring of the bout was academic, with the three judges staying awake long enough to each pencil in 120-108 across the board.
Ruiz improves to 24-3 (18KO), racking up his fifth win of 2010 (5-1, 1KO on the year).
Ler, who turned in a similarly stinker of a performance against Jorge Arce several years ago on HBO, drops his second straight as he falls to 30-8 (18KO).
In the televised co-feature, Romulo Kuasicha bloodied and battered countryman Hugo Medina into submission, at 0:28 of the fourth round.
Kuasicha (13-1, 7KO) was in control for much of the brief affair, and opened up a huge cut over Medina’s right eye. The wound was further aggravated in the fourth, when a combination upstairs left Medina defenseless and reeling, though spared an actual knockout when the referee called time to have the ringside physician examine the cut.
Not another punch would be thrown, as it was decided on the spot that Medina (7-3-1, 5KO) was unfit to continue.
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com and an award-winning member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Contact Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com.