Via Dan Ambrose: Andy Ruiz Jr will now play against Luis ‘King Kong’ Ortiz in the summer, not Tyrone Spong on July 16. On Wednesday, Triller announced the Ruiz vs. Spong will be shown on pay-per-view from the 80,000-seat Plaza de Toros in Mexico City, Mexico.
ESPN is reporting that former unified heavyweight champion Ruiz (33-2, 22 KOs) has signed on to face two-time world champion challenger Luis Ortiz (34-2, 22 KOs) prior to he signed with Spong on July 16 on Triller Fight Club PPV in Mexico.
It is unclear whether 32-year-old Ruiz informed Triller Fight Club that he had signed to face Ortiz in the summer.
You’d think Ruiz would tell Triller this, but who knows? Did Ruiz forget that he signed to fight Ortiz?
As you would guess, Ortiz, 43, went crazy after learning that Ruiz chose not to fight him even though the two had an agreement because this was the fight he had wanted for a long time.
Talented Cuban boxer called Ruiz a “Coward“In an interview with Elnuevoherald, and he questioned whether he still aspires to play against the best at this stage in his career.
“We are working amicably with the PBC to ensure Ruiz honors its obligations to both parties,” said Triller Fight Club president David Tetreault. ESPN. “If we had known the PBC had intentions against him in advance, we would never have chosen this date.
“We have a good relationship with the PBC and we are currently working to determine an optimal date to reschedule the fight. The date Triller lands will be in cooperation with PBC and their calendar. ”
To be sure, Ortiz is a tougher fight for Ruiz than Spong, and it could end badly for the former heavyweight champion.
But if Ruiz is serious about wanting a three-part fight with Anthony Joshua, he has to earn it the hard way by beating Ortiz and perhaps another highly ranked contender.
Ruiz had hoped that Joshua and his promoter Eddie Hearn would give him a third fight with him just to claim it rather than make money, but that was not going to happen. Hearn said that the only way Joshua would match Ruiz would be if he got some significant wins under his belt first.
Instead of doing what Hearn asked, Ruiz took a year and a half off to return to play against Chris Arreola last May.
Almost a year later, Ruiz is finally planning to take the big step towards his third bout with Joshua by going up against Ortiz. It was a good move by Ruiz, but it’s hard to see why he would even think of fighting Spong.
Promoter Eddie Hearn found Ruiz signing to fight Spong “weird” because the British promoter had suggested he fight against Derek Chisora, which would have been much better.
“Strange. I’m a bit disappointed by that,” Hearn told iFL TV in reaction to the news that Ruiz had signed against Spong on July 16.
“I have to text the PBC guys. He was [Ruiz] left PBC? I want him to fight Chisora. I think it was a great fight. I was a bit disappointed when he joined that fightbut obviously in Mexico.
“Spong must fight [Oleksandr] Usyk on my show, and he failed a drug test the week of the war,” Hearn said.
Ortiz is about to have an exciting sixth round knockout win over former IBF heavyweight champion Charles Martin on January 1 in Hollywood, Florida.
“Nampaw Martin surprisingly beat Ortiz in the first and fourth rounds before the Cuban rose to knock him twice in the sixth round to equalize.
