Ruiz captures title in a wild brawl!
Edel “Cuate” (Twin) Ruiz (22-10-3, 13 KOs) won a hard fought decision over Ricardo “El Rayo” (The Lightning) Medina (27-28-5, 17 KOs) for the vacant WBC Continental Americas super bantamweight title on Saturday at the Northern Lights Casino in Walker, Minnesota.
It wasn’t a pretty or clean fight but the crowd enjoyed the action and determination of each fighter to win. Referee Mark Nelson had his hands full issuing warnings for clenches, fouling and rough tactics but only one point was deducted from Medina in the sixth round for repeated low blows. Medina of Mazatlan, Mexico was the aggressor but Ruiz of Los Mochis, Mexico, was elusive and landed the more solid shots.
Both fighters were cautious in the first couple of rounds but all of that changed when an accidental headbutt at the end of the second round opened up a cut over the right eye of Ruiz. Medina picked up the pace in the next round and Ruiz remained defensive although the cut was not a factor. Coincidentally, another headbutt in the last minute of the tenth round evened up the score by opening a cut over the left eye of Medina.
Both fighters traded equally during the infrequent exchanges. No one was hurt and no knockdowns occurred but the brawling continued throughout the fight. The judges saw the battle at 115-112 and 116-112 twice. The 25 year-old Ruiz briefly held the WBC Continental Americas bantamweight title in 1999 of which he made one successful title defense.
In the co-main event, heavyweight Andre “Tombstone” Purlett (36-2, 33 KOs) got back on the winning track with an impressive first round knockout of the usually durable Ron “El Tejanito” Guerrero (16-8-3, 11 KOs).
Purlett, now trained by the legendary Emmanuel Steward, wobbled Guerrero several times in the opening stanza with a strong body attack and combinations upstairs. Toward the end of the round, Purlett pounded a left-right to the body that forced Guerro to the ropes. With only a few seconds left, Purlett unloaded several vicious head shots to the non-responding Guerro. Although Guerro looked like it he would survive the onslaught, Referee Bill Turner suddenly jumped in to stop the fight at 2:58 of the first round.
The stoppage seemed premature – particularly with only two seconds left in the round – and the crowd agreed by booing loudly. Still, Purlett looked much improved since his one-sided decision loss to Jeremy Williams back in June, especially considering that he was only the second fighter to stop Guerrero inside the distance. Guerro was TKO’ed in his ninth fight by Ray Austin in December 1999. Rick Lazes, promoter of Purlett, gave full credit to the training of Steward for the dramatic turnaround in his fighter.
The fights were promoted by Anna Beth Goodman of Kingfish Boxing and Patrick Ortiz of Ringside Ticket. Both of these fights will be televised tape-delayed on Fox Sports World, Fox Sports En Espanol and Fox Sports Latin America. A standing room only rowdy crowd enjoyed the exciting inaugural boxing event at the Northern Lights Casino. The Northern Lights Casino, which opened in May of 2001, is proudly owned and operated by the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe (Chippewa).
By Jesse Kelley at Ringside