Herich Ruiz: "I am very happy with myself and I hope to win over boxing fans"

The pinero Herich Ruiz He is part of a group of top-weight Cuban boxers who dreams of a world belt in American boxing.

Coming from the national team, which left last year during the Pan American Sports Tournament in Guayaquil, Herich established ties in the United States with the promoter Warriors Boxing, the same company that is in charge of the careers of two other Cuban boxers with a great future. : Kevin Brown and David Morell.

It is very pleasant to talk to this boy who dreams of winning important belts at the highest level of world boxing.

Herich, how has it been for you in professional boxing?

First I would like to greet you. Pleased to meet you. I tell you that I have adapted quite quickly to this boxing, although I still have many things to learn. I have always been that boxer who settles when hitting and works a lot on the body, which are fundamental things in this type of boxing. What has surprised me the most is how I have gained in punch, which is largely due to the great work I have done with my physical trainer.

Tell me about your weight gain from 86 kilos to full weight.

When I arrived in the United States, the promoters talked to me to see if I could lose 175 pounds, which I accepted because I could have a great future at that weight. I dreamed of facing Canelo Álvarez, who is my favorite boxer.

However, it could not be. Imagine Julita that just getting down to 187 pounds (in Cuba I was always 91 kilos, about 200 pounds) was difficult for me. Then they decide that I make my weight, the cruiser, the 200. It was my ideal and, although I know that I have to overcome obstacles, I can achieve my goal of reigning in the best boxing in the world. There are many excellent fighters in this division.

I must thank my coach Bob Santos, who motivates me a lot and encourages me to battle in the ring. He emphasizes to me that many of the good ones are my height (six feet three inches, not as tall as this weight characterizes) and have won titles at the highest level.

I go to me; In this category I have competed internationally, I have obtained titles. In sparring I have fought with good rivals such as the prospect Jared Anderson and the French Olympic champion Tony Yoka and my work team has been favorably surprised with my speed and punch.

Today I am very happy with the way my career is developing after a delay in debuting, which materialized on December 11, 2022. I had to gain more weight and get physically fit for this division.

Which it was the result?

I won by knockout in the first round. At this moment I find myself with a record of 3-0 and all three victories by knockout. Now I have many fight dates before me, which gives me confidence and desire to grow in increasingly important rings. I am very happy with myself and I hope to win over boxing fans.

What differences do you find between professional and amateur boxing?

There is a big difference between professional and amateur boxing and even more so for us Cubans who are known for having very good mobility. The professional is more established (something that characterizes me), you can't wear yourself out too much in the first rounds, you have to manage yourself for a long fight. In the amateur you can't fall asleep because the fight is over.

As an amateur you won a world bronze in Serbia, losing your place in the final against another Cuban, Loren Alfonso. From that Herich to the current one, how far have you advanced?

Thank God I have the perfect coaches, the ones I needed: Richard Barrientes Jr and Bob Santos; The first has taught me a lot technically, to not get desperate when hitting, to be a more organized and intelligent boxer.

Bob shows me “the evil” of this boxing. Look, now I have gained a lot in hitting with both hands, something very important at my weight; It was not like this in the past.

How did you get to the United States? I presume that you and Kevin “Alfa” Brown took the tour together.

I arrived in the United States on June 4 of last year, after a very difficult journey with my great friend Kevin. As he already told you, we left from Ecuador.

In that Andean nation we spent two months training until we had the slightest chance and decided to take the road crossing the harsh Darién jungle that borders Colombia and Panama; It was very difficult otherwise.

We dreamed of succeeding in professional boxing, improving our lives and those of our families. We entered the jungle on May 11, my birthday, and that morning I cried a lot. I internalized what that day means without being with my loved ones.

We crossed Panama, Nicaragua, Honduras, Mexico... until we got here! We did most of that journey without coyotes, we relied on each other, we were not separated for a second.

We were destined to be free and be able to fight for our dreams because many were deported while we alone were able to move forward without having to pay a coyote.

This long and winding path, paraphrasing the famous Beatles song, has marked us for life. I am very happy to have spent it with Kevin. Upon arriving I was able to meet his father, a great classical wrestler. Odelis Herrero, who welcomed me like another son.

Thank God I count on Kevin as a brother, we are family; We both train in the same gym and fight to give a great future to our family.

Since when did you think about leaving the national team?

I made that decision in Cuba a long time ago; I waited for a country that would give me the opportunity to get here, shall I tell you more? I made my decision in the 2018 Playa Girón tournament, when I was stripped of victory and yet, the national boxing commissioner Alberto Puig de la Barca saw fit to award me as the best boxer, the most combative, the most technical, the best fight .

Tell me! Everyone knew that I didn't lose a single round; Then they say they sanctioned the referees. I was in my best shape, I had the confidence of being the national champion and the bosses did not want a confrontation between me and Julio César La Cruz.

Then, the next year, the pandemic came. I was at home and they chose the first two figures to prepare in Camagüey for an event they were going to do in that province and it turns out that, without prior notice, they called me to fight La Cruz, a close fight that I lost.

Then I said to myself: like this? No! The sacrifice is worth nothing if everything is predetermined, what trust can there be? When I was at my peak, they took the fight away from me; out of shape they call me to lose. In the days when the coaches Raúl Fernández, Julián Ricardo González Cedeño, Julio Mena were there, things were not like that.

It bothered me a lot that they didn't respond to our demands, it was always a story. I didn't care about the bronze medal at the World Cup in Serbia in 2021. I always knew that the prize for us was a deception, that they were never going to pay us that money.

I know you have a two-year-old baby. How do you see the future? Tell me about your family.

My son and my wife live in Havana. It was very hard to separate from them, we were inseparable, we enjoyed every minute. The separation has been very hard. I talk to them every day and I look forward to receiving sponsorship. Our union will be my greatest and most anticipated triumph.

As for my parents, what can I tell you? I am very attached to them. Although they were on the Island and I was training or competing, I only had a free moment, I was going to Gerona.

They didn't expect the step I took, especially after getting on the World Cup podium. Now they are happy because they see my progress and that I can aspire to another life... free and with a better future! I do not regret. I would do it again. I dream of seeing them, hugging them and I know I will achieve it.

Where do you live, what is your life like?

I am living in Las Vegas with Ariel Pérez, Darián Faviel Castro, Brayan León and Alex Michel Pérez; We get along wonderfully, we are good together. I am glad to have lived with them for so many years on the national team and now live in the same house. All working to achieve our dream.

What do you think of current Cuban sport?

We all have families and we don't fight just to win medals. That was before; The reality now is different. What about tomorrow and your child asking you what you achieved with so much effort?

I am from the Isle of Youth and I look at Alfredo Duvergel himself, with so many victories, with so much history, his Olympic silver medal and I see myself like this at his age. For God's sake! And like him there are many, that no one remembers, who live in poverty, who have no dreams.

So they call us traitors when the betrayal, the deception, was done to me so that I did not receive a cent of the 25 thousand dollars that I won in the World Cup. They still say that the money has not arrived in Cuba. How long will the lies last? Puig de la Barca transformed the Cuban boxing school, so respected along with its founder Dr. Alcides Sagarra, into a mire full of favoritism and corruption.

More and more athletes from any discipline are leaving Cuba in pursuit of realizing their dreams. Right now you share with several of them, what do you tell me about it?

I follow the performances of my friends a lot, I am pleased that they have the opportunity to compete as professional boxers, I am also happy about the success of every Cuban in any sport. And so, if things do not change, the Cuban sports movement will continue to bleed.

Your dreams? Why The Menace?

I am a very combative boxer, I am capable of achieving whatever I want. I am going to fight tirelessly to become world champion to fulfill that great dream of my father who always tells me so and yes, of course I can achieve it.

If there are boxers like Frank Sánchez who has lost to me and is on the verge of achieving it, how can I not be able to?

Hahahaha and they call me The Menace because Kevin has always called me that and I was looking for a nickname to be identified and I couldn't find one and Kevin himself told me: “put on The Menace” and that's how I stayed.