By Ernesto Castellanos, notifight.com
In early January, fans will know the date and venue of the expected rematch between Julio "Chicken" Ceja, the super bantamweight champion of the World Boxing Council, and his challenger Hugo Ruiz - but for now the meeting is tentative for March and the safest bet is it's going to land once against at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
It was precisely in the Staples Center where Ceja managed to be crowned the WBC champion, by stopping Ruiz in the fifth round on the 29th of August. Ceja called it one of the toughest fights of his career, but also the most important battle of his life. Ceja recovered from knockdown in the third round to come back from behind in the fifth.
Ceja was nearly crowned world champion when he fought for the bantamweight belt of the International Boxing Federation (IBF) on May 11, 2013 - but he suffered a close decision loss to Britain's Jamie McDonnell in Yorkshire, England.
In his second title shot, Ceja jumped at the opportunity and raised his record to 30-1 and 27 knockouts.
Ruiz, with a record of 35-3, tasted the sweetness of a title on the 22nd of January 2011 when he captured the interim-world bantamweight title of the World Boxing Association (WBA), by scoring a ninth-round knockout of Alvaro Pérez. He was dethroned by Koki Kameda in his fifth defense.
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