In a crossroads bout, heavyweights Andy ‘The Destroyer’ Ruiz Jr 35-2-1 (22) and Jarrell ‘Big Baby’ Miller 26-1-2 (22) had to settle for a draw in the 12-round bout at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, California on Saturday night.
Boxing on the undercard of the WBA junior middleweight title defence of Israil Madrimov against Terence Crawford, both big men had a lot to prove.
Former unified heavyweight champion Ruiz, 34, of Imperial, California, was having just his third fight on more than four years. In his last outing, he laboured against ancient Luis Ortiz en route to a unanimous decision victory two years ago.
For the 36-year-old Miller from Brooklyn, New York, it was an equally important fight. The notorious drug cheat was having his fifth fight back after incurring a lengthy ban from the sport for using performance enhancing drugs.
In his last fight, Miller was stopped in 10 rounds by Daniel Dubois in Saudi Arabia last December while weighing 333-pounds. This time out, he weighed 305-pounds to Ruiz’s 274-pounds.
Before the fight, Miller credited hard work in the gym for his recent weight loss.
“I work hard, don’t get it twisted,” Miller said. “When I’m in that gym I’m busting my ass. The Dubois fight woke up a demon in me man, it woke up a demon in me that I haven’t seen in awhile and come August third, I’m beating Andy Ruiz up.”
Ruiz was also making all the right noises ahead of the bout.
“I know that he’s coming hungry, I know he wants to win, but so do I,” he said. “I want to win, I’m hungry and I’m motivated. I’m physically ready and prepared. Let’s do this!”
When the first bell rang, it was Ruiz who got off to the better start, using his hand speed and combination punching to keep Miller at bay. But after four rounds, the complexion of the fight changed. Miller’s pressure started to pay off as he found a home for his big bombs.
According to CompuBox, Ruiz out-landed Miller 47-40 over the first four rounds. From the fifth round on, it was Miller who out-landed an increasingly exhausted Ruiz by 143 to 66.
Miller achieved double digits in landed punches in 10 of the 12 rounds, while Ruiz reached double digits in six of the 12 rounds. One judge scored the fight 116-112 for Miller, while the other two scored it 114-114.
“I know I did enough to win,” said Miller. “I threw more punches. I had him backing up the entire fight. It’s called effective aggression. I kept the pressure on and I hit him with the more effective punches. I had the fight in the bag.”
Ruiz showed off his injured right hand after the bout, saying it occurred in the middle rounds of the bout.
“I haven’t fought in two years and I’d love to have a rematch here at the BMO Stadium,” said Ruiz. “I thought I did pretty good. My right hand started hurting me in the fifth round.”
