By Ian S Palmer
The NABF Heavyweight Championship is on the line this Saturday when champion Andy Ruiz Jr. of Mexico meets Franklin Lawrence of the USA. The 10-round bout takes place at the Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino in Leemore, California on September 10th and can be seen live in the USA on the UniMas television network. The undefeated Ruiz Jr. last fought in July when he beat Josh Gormley by a third-round TKO while Lawrence was in the ring back in March and beat Grover Young via a fourth-round TKO. This is the fifth title defence for Ruiz.
The 27-year-old Ruiz Jr. enters the ring with a perfect mark of 28-0 along with 19 Kos. He’s been quite active lately as this will be his fifth outing since last year. Ruiz is an intelligent boxer in the ring and possesses and effective jab, which he uses to set up his power shots. His best weapons are the left hook and overhand right and he’s been able to stop 11 of his past 14 opponents. There’s no doubt he has pretty good power and his current knockout ratio stands at 68 per cent. Ruiz has 106 rounds under his belt since turning pro in 2009 and has beaten the likes of Siarhei Liakhovich, Joe Hanks, Tor Hamer, Ray Austin and Carl Davis.
He stands 6-foot-2 and has a wingspan of 74 inches. He won the NABA title when he stopped Manuel Quezada in the second round in May of 2014 and also added the WBO Inter Continental Heavyweight title to his collection with the win. The knock against Ruiz is that he doesn’t always come into the ring in the best of shape and isn’t always at his best. Even though he’s been active recently he came into his last bout against Gormley at 253 lbs. I guess that’s not too bad though considering he weighed 297 lbs. in his pro debut.
The 40-year-old Lawrence, who hails from Indianapolis, Indiana, will climb through the ropes with a record of 21-2-2 and has 16 Kos to his name. Lawrence is on a nine-bout winning streak and is quite energetic despite his advanced age. He’s managed to stop all 12 of his last dozen opponents and enters the contests with a knockout ratio of 64 per cent. He likes to land combinations after working his way inside and can be quite a handful for anybody. Lawrence turned pro back in 2005 and has boxed 113 rounds since then. His two losses came to former world heavyweight champions Oliver McCall by 10-round unanimous decision in 2009 and Bermane Stiverne by first-round TKO in 2006.
Lawrence has pretty good experience and has actually faced tougher opponents over his career than Ruiz has. These include McCall, Stiverne, Nicolai Firtha, Friday Ahunanya, Willie Chapman, Lance Whitaker, Jason Estrada, Jason Givern and Marcus Rhode. His two draws dame against Ahunanya in July of 2007 and Chapman a month later. However, he’s also fought his share of opponents who entered the ring with losing records. Lawrence is the same height as Ruiz at 6-foot-2, but his reach is unlisted.
Prediction…
The outcome of this bout will likely rest the shape and weight of Ruiz Jr. He’s got decent boxing skills for a big man, but Lawrence will give him trouble if he isn’t well prepared. This should be a relatively close bout, but Ruiz will likely keep his title by decision or late stoppage. Ruiz should be motivated since he’s scheduled to meet Hughie Fury on October 29th.
