The last couple of weeks have been anything but uneventful for Hugo Ruiz but it could all result in a world title.
Since January 18, Ruiz went from getting ready to fight for an interim featherweight title on January 19 to losing out on that fight and now he'll fight Gervonta Davis for the WBA "Super" super featherweight title on February 9. Instead of fighting Jhack Tepora on the Manny Pacquiao vs. Adrien Broner pay-per-view card, Ruiz fought, and easily beat Alberto Guevara in Las Vegas. Days after the fight, Ruiz was announced to be Davis' new opponent after his original opponent went out with an injury.
Fightful spoke to Ruiz in a recent media conference call about what the last few days have been for him and stated that accepting the fight against Davis on such short notice so soon after fighting was not a big deal.
"Basically I was preparing to fight a southpaw [Tepora] before my opponent was changed on the PPV bout. So I had that change and I’ve been basically still training for a southpaw in the last two weeks. I’ve been feeling very strong and very active. And that last fight was basically, it was more like a training then a real tough fight, so I’m ready. I’m rested and I’m good to go," Ruiz said through a translator.
Ruiz previously held the interim WBA bantamweight and WBC super bantamweight title, but a win over Davis would be the biggest one of his career. What will make it even more impressive is that Ruiz would defeat Davis, arguably the best super featherweight today, just three weeks after winning a fight on a major pay-per-view event.
You can listen to Ruiz talking to Fightful in the video above. Davis vs. Ruiz will headline a Showtime Championship Boxing telecast from the Dignity Health Sports Park, formerly StubHub Center, in Carson, California on February 9. Other fights announced for the telecast are Sharif Bogere vs. Javier Fortuna and Mario Barrios vs. Richard Zamora.
