Andy Ruiz Jr. vs. Kevin Johnson - July 7, 2018

[Ruthless-RKO]

A 10 round bout on the Jose Carlos Ramirez vs. Danny O'Connor, WBC Super Light Welterweight title fight undercard.

Takes place at the Save Mart Arena in Fresno, California.

Ruiz ready to step it back up.. IMO, Johnson is in the same boat at Kassi. Might still be tough journeyman, but some of the contenders need to stop using them because they're both more or less on double figure losses. If anyone should be fighting them now, it should be the upcoming prospects.

[jamamb]

since 2016 andys only been in the ring for a minute and a half, some rounds would be good and kj can usually give them. i think johnson would be the type of guy suitable for getting ruiz ready for a good opponent his next time out

johnson hasnt lost 8 straight like kassi and he did just beat pianeta two fights ago, so imo hes okay for this

[oogiebe]

This fight does nothing for Ruiz JR. Johnson is a "Get yer feet wet' fight for him.

[joshj909]

Having Johnson on his record is still quite some distance from a landmark win. Needs someone ranked or close to ranked if he ever wants another chance at a belt. If he doesn't want to step up then there are some former contenders to pick off pretty easily e.g. Stiverne, Wach etc.

The likes of Whyte, Miller, Breazeale and some prospects have made progress into decent ranking spots with little effort. With the performance he put in against Parker he should be out there to prove he is better than or at the same level as those i mentioned.

[Rob3_142]

This fight does not progress Ruiz at all. He's already had his come back fight after the Parker defeat, now it's time to tackle a top 30 fighter.

Andy Ruiz is quickly becoming a frustrating fighter. He's got oodles of talent, but has fought one live contender in 31 fights. Is he going to now take 4-5 gimme fights before returning to a relevant contest? His career will be over before he knows it.

Unfortunately for him, there's enough guys going about their business properly that are streets ahead of him in respect to contention for any kind of title shot.

[jamamb]

lol hes boxed a minute and a half since the parker fight in 2016. go watch that vargas fight. he got no work in. that was hardly much of a comeback and i dont think this fight is really 'omg is he just gonna fight 5 more bums' etc

now, if nothing of a step up is planned for after this, then its bad (more like his overall plan is bad), but this is not a bad fight at all for before a solid opponent later this year, would get him some rounds.

[gilgamesh]

I guess no matter if you stink out the joint or not if you're durable, and a loser you'll keep getting work.

Don't know why anybody would pay a penny to see a Kevin Johnson fight.

[SenorPipino]

I guess no matter if you stink out the joint or not if you're durable, and a loser you'll keep getting work.

Don't know why anybody would pay a penny to see a Kevin Johnson fight.

Ruiz-Johnson has all the makings of a punch-clutch-grab 10 rounder.

I can hear the booing beginning already.

[oogiebe]

I guess no matter if you stink out the joint or not if you're durable, and a loser you'll keep getting work.

Don't know why anybody would pay a penny to see a Kevin Johnson fight.

Ruiz-Johnson has all the makings of a punch-clutch-grab 10 rounder.

I can hear the booing beginning already.

Paper cup and bottle throwing.

[gilgamesh]

I guess no matter if you stink out the joint or not if you're durable, and a loser you'll keep getting work.

Don't know why anybody would pay a penny to see a Kevin Johnson fight.

Ruiz-Johnson has all the makings of a punch-clutch-grab 10 rounder.

I can hear the booing beginning already.

I think if I attended this card, and this was the Main Event. I'd probably leave as soon as it started. I'd only care about the undercard.

This is a guaranteed stinker, and also a guaranteed Ruiz victory. So there's nothing to see.

[SenorPipino]

Is this an ESPN card?

[Ruthless-RKO]

Is this an ESPN card?

I believe it will be ESPN and ESPN+ app.

[ElJefe]

I know 28 isn't old for a heavyweight but with the shape Ruiz keeps himself in (round) I can't see him fighting into his late 30s. These are probably his best years. He needs to be in more meaningful fights than this. He's proved that he can hang with someone of Parker's level, so what's the point of fighting Safety Pin?

Some of these American heavyweights should fight each other. Ruiz, Molina, Jennings, Mansour, Washington. The winners could get back into contention. The losers could be used as tests against the undefeated fighters such as Trevor Bryan, Jermaine Franklin and Trey Lippe Morrison. I'm yet to really watch those 3, waiting until they fight a decent name until I watch them properly.

[Lackeos]

It's not as bad as the comments in the thread have portrayed it as. Ruiz's best wins so far are a severely past-it Franklin Lawrence, Tor Hamer, Joe Hanks, and extremely past-it Lyakhovich. Despite Hamer's head-to-head win over Johnson, I think Johnson is a bit better than these four boxers (at the times of the fights. However, at exactly this moment, KJ is way better than the others). It's easy to lose sight of the fact that while Charles Martin's best legit, untainted win is against man boobs Alexander Flores; Johnson has beaten Francesco Pianeta, Albert Sosnowski, and Alex Leapai -- all of whom weren't long removed from world title fights (in other words, on paper, Martin has some catching-up to do before he equals Johnson's accomplishments). I think Ruiz is a heavy favorite to win by decision, but it would be his best win if he did. However, as KJ has mediocre power (some of his best wins have been stoppages) and not enough punch output to seize rounds, he is rightly regarded as a reliable loser when he faces anyone good.

There's also the fact that Parker barely got past Ruiz, so Parker's ranking and ability is partially linked with the non-Parker component of Ruiz's resume (which is pretty unimpressive). So, in order to accurately rank Parker, Hughie, Ruiz, and Takam, and justify their high ranks, we need to see Ruiz get wins that are better than Joe Hanks. This fight accomplishes that, but only just barely.

Hopefully after this fight, Ruiz will go hunting for his first top 35 scalp.

[Rob3_142]

Yeah but I think the point is that he should really now regularly be mixing it with B level fighters, rather than A or Z. How is he supposed to progress against opponents which are not live?

I agree that Johnson will be his second best opponent, but I think that's more of a reflection of his awful resume than the positivity of making this fight. Johnson is someone he should have been trading with in his 20-0 days. Not when he's in excess of 30 pro fights.