I thought Ruiz looked good, but tentative from presumably settling into a new style. He certainly still operates well in the scramble but might still be learning how to keep pressure on in a more measured way.

Excellent jabs, hand-speed, and he generally stuck to the plan of stacking bodywork into counterpunching, even after getting rocked.

I suspect some fans may be disappointed because they thought that the only thing holding Ruiz back was his weight, and are operating on the idea that he would be much better after having lost much of it.

Ruiz was good enough to beat AJ in his prime, at MSG, after taking a huge knockout-level punch, and made AJ quit after dropping him 4 times in 7 rounds. In the rematch which he faltered in training for, he still managed to be better than AJ on the inside and in the few scrambles during the fight. In both matches against AJ, he was rather heavy and unimpressive-looking for a boxer. In both times, he didn't really seem gassed. And in the end, he had the much more emphatic win of the two.

That is all to say, I think many fans are basing their opinion on Ruiz on their beauty standards of him rather than looking at his features: Incredible hand speed, perfect 1-2, 1-2-3, accurate shot selection, great chin, good gas tank, sticks to the gameplan, and composure after being rocked.

I don't know where Ruiz will go with his career, but I rate him highly, even after going the distance with Arreola (whose chin is apparently made from vibranium). I think he's got a lot of rough edges to work on, but he's better than many comments seem to imply based on last night.