By Peter Lim

Two days prior to the Andy Ruiz Jr. vs. Anthony Joshua bout, MC and ring announcer Ray Flores anticipated that Ruiz would prevail in one of the biggest heavyweight upsets in recent history. Flores made his prediction while having lunch at the Zaza Hotel in Houston just before the press conference announcing the June 30 Jermall Charlo-Brandon Adams bout. Seated at the same table as Flores when he had the premonition were Jermall Charlo, trainers Ronnie Shields and Derrick James and Showtime's Raul Marquez and Matt Donovan.

While most fans and analysts dismissed Ruiz based on his smaller, flabbier frame, Flores said he looked at the bigger picture which included Ruiz's underrated hand speed, skill set and extensive amateur experience.

"He had just collectively worked himself into a position to where he prepared himself for over a decade for that moment in Madison Square Garden," Flores said.

"It's unfair that coming into the fight, that just based on aesthetically looking at him and his body type, that people wrote him off so easily. Boxing is not a body building contest. You don't win fights because you have a six pack or an eight pack. You win fights based on your boxing knowledge, your heart and your determination and Ruiz proved that on Saturday night. Andy Ruiz is extremely athletic. He was in fantastic shape for this matchup and Andy's ring IQ is up there with some of the best in the heavyweight division."

A former member of the Mexican Olympic team, Ruiz has always worn the the colors of his parents' birth country with pride and credited the Mexican style - a modus operandi that involves as much machismo as it does methodology - for his unexpected victory.

"I think it's great for boxing," Flores said. "This is enormous for Mexican-Americans all over the world. The first heavyweight champion of Mexican descent. That has never been seen before."

Mexican milestone aside, the upset also drew more coverage from the mainstream media than your typical heavyweight championship bout. In addition to their standard ringside reports, The New York Times, USA Today, The Associated Press and BBC News were quick to exploit the triumph-of-the-underdog angle for some extensive feel-good, follow-up coverage.

Then there was Ruiz's ample waistline which, given that many more average Joes shared the same physique as him as opposed to Joshua’s, made for more feel-good storylines, not to mention rotund punchlines. The headline, for example, by the Associated Press read: "Fat Chance."

That both Ruiz and Joshua displayed exemplary sportsmanship before, during and after the fight sure didn't hurt the image of the sport that has often been tarnished by disrespectful trash-talking, tantrum-throwing antics.

"Both guys showed class," Flores said. "Andy Ruiz was obviously overjoyed and Anthony Joshua, even in defeat, showed a ton of class giving praise to Andy and really proving what a true champion he was.

"This was absolutely unbelievable for the sport of boxing. The rematch is going to be enormous."

Joshua and his team have invoked the rematch clause. While the 'when' of the rematch is expected to be in November or December, the 'where' could be Mexico, London or any number of venues in between.

Asked to predict the outcome of the rematch, Flores responded: "I favor Andy based on what we saw in the last matchup. He counter punched Joshua very well, he took his very heavy shots, he got off of the deck and he showed his ability to deal with adversity. I think that Andy Ruiz has all the abilities to beat Anthony Joshua again in the rematch."

Read this writer's very erroneous pre-fight prediction of Ruiz-Joshua at: https://peterliminator.blogspot.com/2019/06/anthony-joshua-vs-andy-ruiz-jr.html