Ruiz would fancy his chances in those same close exchanges. His fastest work still comes through short combinations, where his hands can compensate for his slow feet. Hrgovic does not always protect himself cleanly after throwing, and Ruiz would have openings for his left hook and compact right hand.
Calling him the “perfect style” is doing some heavy lifting, though. To make it work, Ruiz must get through Hrgovic’s jab repeatedly, absorb the right hand, and maintain enough pressure to keep the Croatian from controlling the fight at long range. Itauma had the legs and explosiveness to reach Hrgovic early. Ruiz has the hand speed, but carrying his body across the ring for 12 rounds is a different proposition.
Hand speed means nothing if a fighter cannot close distance. Itauma gave Hrgovic nightmares for eight rounds because he possessed rare, explosive twitch speed, rapid in-and-out footwork, and youth. Even with those athletic gifts, Itauma paid a brutal toll when his tank emptied in the ninth. Ruiz does not have that agility. His feet are slow, he shuffles forward in straight lines, and at thirty-six, he lacks the gas tank to wage a high-tempo pursuit over twelve rounds.
To land his compact combinations, Ruiz has to survive a gauntlet of punches. Hrgovic pumps a stiff jab behind an eighty-two-inch reach. When shorter fighters try to walk in without cutting angles, the Croatian lines them up with straight rights and chopping right hands behind the ear.
Ruiz ate tremendous leather from past prime versions of Luis Ortiz and Chris Arreola, hitting the canvas against both. Hrgovic hits harder than both of them right now, throws in heavy volume, and possesses the chin to absorb return fire without giving ground. The only thing Ruiz sees is Hrgovic pulling back with his chin in the air.
That flaw exists, but Ruiz cannot capitalize on it while standing outside eating straight punches. Ruiz is a stationary target when he stops punching, which allows Hrgovic to post with his left arm, tie up on the inside, and lean his massive frame on him.
Calling Hrgovic the ideal style is wishful thinking from a fighter trying to talk himself into a title shot. Against an active champion with elite durability, Ruiz would simply find himself on the wrong end of a long, punishing target practice session.
There is also the small matter of Knyba. Ruiz has not won a fight since defeating Luis Ortiz in September 2022, and his last outing produced a draw against Jarrell Miller in August 2024. He says a broken hand contributed to that performance, but two years outside the ring will not disappear because he looks slimmer during fight week.
Hrgovic claimed the IBF championship by taking Itauma’s best punches and dragging him into deep water. Ruiz is still trying to prove that he deserves a chance to take that belt from him.
The matchup has merit if Ruiz handles Knyba convincingly. If he labors through another slow heavyweight fight, Hrgovic will look less like an ideal matchup and more like a champion whose name Ruiz borrowed to draw attention to his comeback.
