Review by AllTheBestFights.com: 2016-09-10, fight not particularly good between Andy Ruiz Jr and Franklin Lawrence: it gets two stars.The undefeated Andy Ruiz Jr entered this fight with a perfect record of 28-0-0 (19 knockouts) and he is ranked as the No.29 heavyweight in the world. He has fought twice in 2016 winning over Ray Austin and Josh Gormley.
His opponent, the 40-year-old Franklin Lawrence (13 years older than Ruiz), has an official record of 21-2-2 (16 KOs=76%) and he entered as the No.54 in the same weight class. He suffered his last loss when he faced Oliver McCall in 2009, since then he has collected nine consecutive victories beating Grover Young in his last one. Ruiz vs Lawrence is valid for the NABF heavyweight title. Watch the video and rate this fight!
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Date: 2016-09-10
Where: Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino, Lemoore, California, USA
Division: heavyweight (over 200 lbs, 90.7 kg)
Title: NABF heavyweight title
Ruiz’s next fight: Joseph Parker vs Andy Ruiz Jr
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Video:
We are sorry, but since we have been contacted by “Top Rank”, we post only video highlights of the fight or amateur videos (as soon as we find it). If you have seen the full fight video you can rate it. THANKS!
(Free embeddable highlights video hosted on Youtube)
Caught this earlier before Top Rank came calling. It was a showcase of everything we already know about Ruiz: smart, with fast hands, some good lick on his punches, and mediocre defense limiting his potential to be a serious contender. Worse, he has the mobility of a beached whale. So unstable is he that he can not reset in time to take advantage of the end of a series of punches. His worst enemy is his next burrito.
The “aged” journeyman Lawrence (a grandfatherly 40 yrs. — ha, that makes me feel old!) was essentially beaten in the first round, the snap going right out of him after a few body punches, and by the third or fourth was reduced to pawing and leaning. Even so Ruiz could not take out the dazed opponent, and by the eighth Ruiz’s corner was grumbling, “Gotta finish this. We didn’t want to be here this long.”
If Hughie Fury is in shape for their match later this year, and uses his height and reach advantage, he can batter Ruiz from distance, minding the gap which is important because all Ruiz’s best work is mid-range and up close. Fury had also better be ready for a long night, for being fat does not mean Ruiz lacks stamina. He was barely breathing after ten rounds of tattooing the poor Lawrence.