Andy Ruiz Jr. to face Hughie Fury

Photo by: Will Hart/HBO

Sep

Heavyweight contender Andy Ruiz Jr. will face unbeaten Hughie Fury on Oct. 29, Top Rank Promotions matchmaker Brad Goodman confirmed to RingTV Tuesday night.

The scheduled 12-round bout will take place at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England and is slated for the undercard of the anticipated rematch between THE RING magazine world heavyweight champion and unified titleholder (and Hughie’s older cousin) Tyson Fury and Wladimir Klitschko, which was officially announced Wednesday morning.

The fight is an intriguing matchup between unbeaten heavyweights. Ruiz has more experience as a pro and has fought the better opposition, while Fury has a four-inch height advantage and will be fighting in his hometown.

Ruiz (28-0, 19 knockouts), who resides in Imperial, California, stopped Josh Gormley in the third round of his most recent fight on July 16. In his previous bout on May 14, Ruiz stopped former world title challenger Ray Austin after four rounds.

Ruiz is scheduled to fight Franklin Lawrence this Saturday night at the Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino in Lemoore, California. The bout will air on UniMas, beginning at 11 p.m. ET/ PT.

In his most recent bout on April 30, Fury (20-0, 10 KOs) scored a seventh round technical decision over gatekeeper Fred Kassi.

The Fury-Klitschko rematch will air live on HBO. No word if the network will also air the Ruiz-Fury fight or show highlights.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for RingTV since October of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper, BoxingScene.com and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing.