Andy Ruiz scored three impressive knockdowns en route to victory over Luis Ortiz in his most recent fight.
The inactive former heavyweight world champion has failed to develop any career momentum since his famous win over Anthony Joshua, though is now returning to the heavyweight picture.
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Ruiz is set to face Jarrell Miller on the Terence Crawford vs Israil Madrimov 'Riyadh Season Card' on August 3 in LA, which is being staged by Saudi Arabia's HE Turki Alalshikh.
The Mexican-American is hoping that a win can help him forge a path back into the heavyweight landscape despite his inactivity in recent years.
Following his rematch defeat to Joshua in December 2019, Ruiz did not fight again until a win over Chris Arreola in May 2021.
After that, he was out for over a year once again and returned with his most recent win against Ortiz, which took place in September 2022.
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Ruiz did not display too much ring rust though, and showed flashes of the dangerous hand speed that he used to knock Joshua out.
The fight - staged at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles - began with Ortiz attempting to claim control via his southpaw jab in the opening minute.
Ruiz was not intimidated though, and utilised his famed heavyweight hand speed to catch the Cuban with a couple of clean shots.
In the second, the action opened up as Ruiz floored Ortiz with a stunning short right hand to the side of the head.
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The Cuban made it back to his feet, but not for long as he collapsed to the canvas again for a second knockdown quickly afterwards with his legs still wobbly - scenes reminiscent of Ruiz's win over AJ.
Remarkably though, Ortiz fired back after this and appeared to hurt Ruiz with a couple of hard lefts before the bell rang.
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In rounds three and four, the Mexican-American boxed more cautiously as a result.
Ruiz's fast counters continued to trouble Ortiz, though the exchanges were significantly quieter than in the dramatic second.
The fifth and sixth were positive rounds for the Cuban as he avoided many of the shots fired his way and countered effectively.
As they hit the halfway point, Ruiz appeared ahead with the two knockdowns in his favour, but Ortiz was creeping back into the contest.
Round seven saw Ruiz less passive as he attempted to end this pattern of positivity for Ortiz and knocked him down for a third time with another hard, fast right hand.
The speed of the hook to the side of the head was again eerily similar to the punches he used to knock Joshua out back in 2019.
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In the eighth, the Cuban sought once again to show that he still had plenty left in the fight and arguably won the round as a result of his more forceful approach.
Ruiz responded by coming out firing in round nine, but Ortiz's counter punches assured that he remained wary.
The action slowed until Ortiz went for broke in the final round.
Unfortunately for the Cuban though, Ruiz Jr had no intention of throwing away his lead and did enough to make it to the final bell.
He was awarded the win by unanimous decision with scores of 113-112, 114-111, 114-111.
As negotiations for a clash with Deontay Wilder failed, Ruiz has not fought since and will only now finally be returning for the Miller fight on August 3.
He then wants to face Joshua in a trilogy fight.
Ruiz recently told iFL TV: "He’s saying, ‘I’m going to fight a few more times and then retire’. But I don’t want him to retire without fighting me.
"It’s going to be really explosive, man.
"Because he [beat] me when I wasn’t prepared. He beat me when I wasn’t training.
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"He isn’t fighting really tough fighters. he’s knocking everybody out, he’s supposed to, I feel all the guys he fights are scared.
"Once you go in a big fight like that you gotta be fearless, you can’t be scared, you have to believe in yourself."
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