By Francisco Salazar

Eric Ruiz may have the deck stacked against him on Saturday night, but he is staying within himself to pull off a major upset.

Ruiz will fight unbeaten Jessie Magdaleno in a 10 round super bantamweight bout at the Texas Station Gambling Hall and Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The bout will headline a Top Rank card and will be televised live on UniMas at 11 p.m. ET/ PT.

Although Ruiz has won his last four bouts in a row since a controversial six round loss to Isaac Zarate in August of 2013, Magdaleno is the house fighter and favored to win. Both were scheduled to fight each other on October 25, but Magdaleno had to drop out of the fight due to personal reasons.

Training at the Robert Garcia Boxing Academy in Oxnard, California, Ruiz (13-1, 6 KOs) was undaunted from the two and a half month delay. He believes he has physical and psychological tools to defeat Magdaleno.

“I’ve just stayed focused and I’ve continued training,” Ruiz told Boxingscene.com in a recent phone interview. “I’m just focused on him. I know he’s a top prospect, but I haven’t seen him in a brawl. He takes out guys early. It seems like those guys don’t have anything left after the first couple of rounds. I have the strength and stamina to go rounds.”

Ruiz has had the benefit of sparring the likes of Vasyl Lomachenko, Jesus Cuellar, and Evgeny Gradovich in Oxnard. Having a trainer in Robert Garcia has benefited his development as a fighter.

Of the 14 fighters he has faced as a pro, only three of them had winning records. Ruiz, a 2010 Oxnard High School graduate, believes the training sessions with the world class fighters and Garcia will lead him to have a successful pro career.

He will be in the lion’s den on Saturday night, as Magdaleno, who resides in Las Vegas, will likely have the crowd support in his favor.

“I know I’m the underdog, but that’s what motivates me. He’ll have the crowd support and he’s the house fighter. That is fine. I’m going to give a good show.”

“After January 10, people will know who Erik Ruiz is.”
 
Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Salazar also covers boxing for the Ventura County (CA) Star, RingTV, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing