Yesterday California welcomed back combat sports with a live crowd with the Andy Ruiz vs. Chris Arreola boxing card, which was held at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. This was the first combat sports event to take place with a crowd in California since the COVID-19 pandemic began wreaking havoc on the sports world back in early 2020.
Due to California’s COVID-19 restrictions, the venue had a 33% capacity crowd. A small percentage of that small percentage weren’t just satisfied with watching fights happening the ring, they wanted them in the stands, too.
The Athletic’s Mike Coppinger was on the scene and he captured three separate brawls in the sparsely populated stands around him. Those are provided below for your viewing pleasure.
And boxing is back in SoCal! They are slugging it out in the stands!! @barstoolsports #RuizArreola pic.twitter.com/0jFcZPhlaz
— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) May 2, 2021
And now we have another one even crazier than the last! What is going on?! https://t.co/9AuXcIn5Wm pic.twitter.com/lenWxxIsAg
— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) May 2, 2021
And now another! https://t.co/Uzz7IuXIXN pic.twitter.com/0B1fxXl4ct
— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) May 2, 2021
If those slugging it out in the stands paid attention they would notice Ruiz survive any early knockdown before pulling away on the scorecards to beat Arreola. This was Ruiz’s first fight since losing a rematch to Anthony Joshua. He famously upset the Brit in their first contest, in 2019, claiming the WBA (Super), IBF and IBO heavyweight titles.
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