This was Lara’s first fight since defeating Greg Vendetti by unanimous decision in August. We worked in the same gym for years, but this is a sport and I’d welcome the challenge.” “I want the winner of the Jermell Charlo-Brian Carlos Castano unification fight. “I felt strong and sharp tonight at middleweight, but I still want all of the big fights at 154-pounds too,” Lara, 38, said. Jermall Charlo owns the WBC middleweight belt and Jermell Charlo is a unified three-belt champion at junior middleweight. Lara (28-3-3, 16 KOs) returned to a tune-up bout, but he’s now aiming for title fights against former stablebates, the Charlo twins. LaManna (30-5-1, 12 KOs) laid on the canvas motionless for a few minutes before slowly getting up and receiving cheers from the Carson crowd. Lara quickly knocked out Thomas “Cornflake” LaManna with a left hook less than two minutes into the fight. LARA WINS AT 160įormer junior middleweight champion Erislandy Lara had no issues in his first bout at 160 pounds. It wasn’t a new improved Ruiz, but his exciting fighting style pleased the fans in attendance who were loud throughout the fight. Ruiz said he welcomes a rematch with Arreola. Arreola, an East Los Angeles native, ended a near two-year layoff to fight Ruiz.īut Arreola was able to turn the clock for a few rounds and disagreed with the judges who only gave him two rounds. He lost to Deontay Wilder in 2016 and Vitali Klitschko in 2009. Ruiz did enough to earn the victory, but it wasn’t the impressive performance he needed to return to the heavyweight title picture versus the likes of Joshua and Tyson Fury.Īrreola, 40, has plenty of experience against top heavyweights, but he’s years removed since being a serious contender in the division. But Ruiz had minimal defense Saturday night and relied heavily on his fast and powerful hands, the same tactic that helped him upset Joshua to become a unified heavyweight champion nearly two years ago. Ruiz, 31, sought the help of trainer Eddy Reynoso to lose weight and become a disciplined fighter with counter punching. Ruiz entered this fight at 256 pounds after fighting at 283 pounds in his previous bout - the rematch against Anthony Joshua in December 2019. Ruiz’s weight loss benefited him in the middle rounds and applied pressure often against a fatigued Arreola.

“He’s a hard puncher,” Ruiz said about Arreola. Ruiz was rocked twice during a wild third round, but stood his ground and found a rhythm toward the end of the round. Ruiz won with score cards of 117-110, 118-109, 118-109.Īrreola hurt Ruiz early after landing a big right to Ruiz’s ear, recording a second-round knockdown.

Ruiz overcame a sluggish start to defeat Arreola by unanimous decision in the first boxing event in California with fans in attendance since the COVID-19 pandemic started. arrived Saturday night with a new physique, but his fighting style was the same during his thrilling ring return against Chris Arreola at Dignity Health Sports Park. CARSON - Former heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz Jr.

Andy ruiz 2021