Team Ruiz Explain Decision To Withdraw From UniMas Show

By Jake Donovan

The 2016 season premiere of Solo Boxeo Tecate on UniMas was due to showcase unbeaten Andy Ruiz Jr. in an eight-round headliner on January 16th in Dallas, Texas. The show will still go on at The Bomb Factory, just without the services of the rising heavyweight contender.

A team decision was made to pull Ruiz from the show, which is now left without a confirmed headliner as this goes to publish. Ruiz was hard at work in training camp for his scheduled bout versus Danny Batchelder, but personal issues beyond the ropes left his mental focus at less than full capacity.

“It’s nothing physical, it’s not an injury, or Andy was training at McDonald’s or anything stupid like that,” head trainer “Big” Jeff Grmoja confirmed to BoxingScene.com. “When I got word that he wasn’t mentally where he needed to be for his first fight of the year, his manager Joe Gagliardi and I sat down and – after a lengthy discussion – decided the best move was to have him sit this one out.”

News of Ruiz being pulled from the show was first reported by Mario Mungia of ThaBoxingVoice.com.

Top Rank staff was not in a position to speak to a replacement bout, as efforts are being made to secure at least one more fight for the show.

What was confirmed is the status of middleweight Matt Korobov (24-1, 14KOs), whose first fight since his vacant title fight knockout loss to Andy Lee in Dec. ’14 will not get an upgrade to main event. The Russian southpaw – who turns 33 on Thursday – remains in an eight-round supporting bout versus Josue Ovando, who is coming off of a hard-fought points loss to Hugo Centeno in December.

As for Ruiz (26-0, 17KOs) the cancellation marks the third straight targeted fight date that has now fallen by the wayside. The 25-year old from Mexicali, Mexico – who now lives and trains in California – was due to return on Dec. 5 in Fresno, Calif. only for intended opponent Michael Grant to not receive medical clearance in time to proceed with the chief support to local favorite Jose Ramirez.

Efforts to have him appear on a Top Rank show one week later in Tucson, Ariz. never fully materialized. As a result, Ruiz has now been forced to sit on the sidelines since late October, where he picked up his second win in the span of four weeks following a forced nine-month hiatus due to injury rehabilitation and the demand that he get into physical and fighting shape.

He did just that in his first fight back, a points win over Joell Godfrey, who stepped in for Devin Vargas on short notice and refused to engage for much of their eight-round affair in late September. The highlight of fight week was that Ruiz came in at a svelte 247¾ lbs., exactly 20-pounds lighter than his injury-plagued unanimous decision over former champ Siarhei Liakhovich in Dec. ’14.

Ruiz maintained his physical condition for another four weeks, where he pounded out an eight-round nod over a far too game Raphael Zumbrano Love. The bout took place on the non-televised undercard of Terence Crawford’s homecoming knockout win over Dierry Jean in Omaha, Neb., but was streamed live on Top Rank’s website.

While not getting the knockout – though not for a lack of trying – Ruiz and team were pleased with the performance and hoping for one more to close out 2015. Instead, he now has to wait a little longer, though with the hopes of returning at some point in the first quarter of 2016.

Rumors have swirled of his possibly facing returning heavyweight Ike Ibeabuchi on the April 9 undercard of the rubber match between Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley Jr. They just remain unfounded rumors for now, as a lot of variables are in play just to get Ibeabuchi – who turns 43 in February – licensed and back in the ring.

“I can assure his being pulled from the (Jan. 16th) show has nothing to do with any other fight being offered,” Grmoja confirmed. “It certainly has nothing to do with April 9, since the fight with Ibeabuchi was never offered to us. Our only guarantee was fighting next weekend in Dallas. Rather than having Andy fight just for the sake of fighting, that fight date is no longer on the table.

“Our next course of action is to sit down as a team, figure out when Andy is in the proper frame of mind to return and then go from there. We hope it’s not too long because he had some good momentum late last year and we hate to watch it slip away.”

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox