Andy Ruiz impressive on undercard; Evgeny Gradovich struggles to split decision win

OMAHA, Neb. - A slimmed-down Andy Ruiz impressed on the Terence Crawford-Dierry Jean undercard.

The heavyweight prospect punished journeyman Raphael Zumbano over eight rounds to win a unanimous decision (80-72, 80-72, 80-70). Ruiz, who debuted in 2009 at 297.5 pounds, is down to 248.8, and displayed his quick hands and boxing intelligence Saturday.

"I felt really good," the 26-year-old Mexico native told Paste BN Sports. "I didn't want to throw all my hard punches all at once so I kinda kept my composure. I don't think I would have had this performance if I wasn't running and losing weight."

Ruiz (26-0, 17 KOs) laid a beating on the overmatched Zumbano (37-12-1, 30 KOs), but said he let up because he "hates" to see his opponent hurt. He's staying active now and will have his third fight in four months when he returns on Dec. 5 in Fresno, Calif. Ruiz's target weight is 245, but tighter and with a lot more muscle.

"I love getting more rounds," Top Rank executive Carl Moretti told Paste BN Sports. "Come back Dec. 5, hopefully get more rounds. Look for bigger and better things in 2016."

Moretti believes Ruiz could be ready for a top-15 heavyweight by Fall 2016.

Said the bilingual Ruiz: "There' a lot more to see of Andy Ruiz."

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Evgeny Gradovich, who lost his IBF featherweight title to Lee Selby this summer, looked sluggish as he struggled to an eight-round split-decision victory over journeyman Aldimar Silva. Silva (19-9, 10 KOs) was able to tag "The Mexican Russian" with plenty of clean shots over the first three rounds, before Gradovich came on and grinded him down.

One judge scored it for Silva, 77-75, overruled by tallies of 79-71 and 78-74 for Gradovich. Gradovich (20-1-1, 9 KOs) told Paste BN Sports on Friday that he plans to drop to 122 pounds in 2016.