Ruiz mostly fought journeymen opposition earlier in his career but did knock out two amateur stars in 2006 US amateur champion Jonte Willis and 2008 Golden Gloves champion Tor Hamer.Ī 19-year-old Ruiz made his professional debut on March 28, 2009, at the Plaza de Toros in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, in a four-round bout against Miguel Ramírez. Ruiz had Freddie Roach in his corner and at the Wild Card Gym and sparred with former UFC heavyweight champion, Andrei Arlovski. Defeated German Sandi (Costa Rica) RSC–1.Defeated Gerardo Bisbal (Puerto Rico) 24–7.Lost to Mike Colin Wilson (United States) 16–9Īmerican Olympic Qualifications results.Defeated Juan Isidro Hiracheta (Mexico) AB–2.Defeated Jose Luis Castro (Mexico) RSC–3.Lost to Michael Hunter (United States) RSCO–3.Ruiz's parents were born in Mexico, making Ruiz eligible to represent Mexico. Ruiz also represented Mexico in two 2008 Beijing Olympic Games qualification tournaments, losing to eventual Olympians Robert Alfonso of Cuba and Óscar Rivas of Colombia in the first and second qualifiers. His 105 wins include two Mexican National Junior Olympics gold medals and a title at the Ringside World Championships. Ruiz has explained that his nickname, 'Destroyer', was acquired before he started boxing, because as a child, 'I was always destroying stuff.' Amateur career ĭuring his amateur career, Ruiz boxed to a 105–5 record under Cuban trainer Fernando Ferrer. His grandfather owned a boxing gym in Mexicali that was used by featherweight champion Jorge Páez. Ruiz later worked for his father in construction for a time before deciding to become a full-time boxer and starting his amateur career in Mexico. Ruiz had a passion for baseball before his father got him into boxing he has noted that his first fight was at age seven in San Diego. His father is a former construction worker who started his own business flipping houses. Ruiz was born in Imperial, California his parents had emigrated from Mexico to the U.S. He is a former unified heavyweight world champion, having defeated Anthony Joshua to win the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO titles in 2019 to become the first male boxer of Mexican heritage to win a world heavyweight championship.Īs of June 2023, he is ranked as the world's fifth-best active heavyweight by ESPN, fourth by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board and BoxRec, and sixth by The Ring magazine. (born September 11, 1989) is an American professional boxer of Mexican descent.

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