Andy Ruiz Jr. survived a second-round knockdown to beat Chris Arreola in a throwback slobberknocker

• Andy Ruiz Jr. defeated Chris Arreola in front of a partial fan allowance in Carson on Saturday.
• Jesus Ramos and Sebastian Fundora also continued their awesome progressions.
• Fans at the event were so excited to see live boxing, they fought amongst themselves in the crowd.

Andy Ruiz Jr. survived a second-round knockdown to beat Chris Arreola in a throwback slobberknocker in front of a partial fan allowance Saturday at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.

The 10-bout, Premier Boxing Champions event was broadcast on Fox Sports pay-per-view and there were almost as many fights in the crowd as there were in the ring.

It was a particularly wild night for Mexican boxing as some of its best-known fighters, and its up-and-comers, took center stage, while a small number of fans brawled in the stands.

Ruiz Jr. returned to the ring for the first time since losing a 12-round decision to Anthony Joshua at a landmark event in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, in 2019.

The fight was a rematch of a bout earlier in the year when Ruiz Jr. got up from the floor to drop Joshua four times en route to a humiliating knockout loss for Britain's gold medal hero.

Ruiz Jr. celebrated with his family, went on late-night talk shows, and ate Snickers as he got to grips with his new-found fame.

But the weight of those world championship belts proved to be heavy, as Ruiz Jr. turned up to the scales for the rematch out of shape, surrendering the titles back to Joshua.

This was his comeback - a bout against a fellow Mexican, just as tough as he is, just days away from Cinco de Mayo.

But this was no showcase for Ruiz Jr. This was a challenging comeback fight as Arreola showed there is still a lot of dog in him, even at 40 years time.

Arreola boxed well in the opening rounds and even had Ruiz Jr. down in the second, but the former world champion eventually found his rhythm and had the match won in the second half.

"He got me with a good clean right hand in the second round," said Ruiz Jr. in a statement sent to Insider.

"I was too overconfident and dropped my hand a bit. Hats off to him. We just kept pushing and pushing. I switched up and started focusing on counterpunching and working the body."

By the end of the 12th, Ruiz Jr. had landed 161 of his 626 shots for a 25.7% accuracy rate, meaning he had out-thrown, out-landed, and was more effective than Arreola, who landed 109 from 521 (20.9%), according to Compubox data sent to Insider.

Watch the highlights here:

The future is bright for Fundora and Ramos

One boxing theme consistently reported by Insider's combat sports correspondent is how the sport is in good health with so many fun, exciting, very good, unapologetically violent, and wonderfully nasty youngsters in the fight game.

Two of them fought in separate bouts Saturday on Ruiz Jr. and Arreola's undercard.

Sebastian Fundora, who is flirting with title-contending status, stopped Jorge Cota in a four-round war.

At 6-foot-6, "The Towering Inferno" is not your regular super welterweight because he is, literally, head and shoulders above his 154-pound competition - a division where the average height is approximately 5-foot-11.

With height and reach advantage like that, fighters would be wise to box from a distance and pick opponents off with jabs - keeping them as far away from you as possible, where they can do as little damage while you inflict yours.

But, hell, Fundora is not that kind of guy. He can box you from range, sure, but he seemingly prefers to fight you like you mugged him.

He'll rip up that distance rulebook and spit on it in disgust as he makes his way on the inside, exchanging heavy leather from point-blank, seemingly happy to get hit in the process.

This sort of paradox of style has star-making potential - and Fundora is making all the right moves to get there fast as he spent 90% of the fight "in the phone booth" to beat up Cota, according to Compubox data.

Fundora advanced his pro boxing record to 17 wins (12 knockouts) against one draw with his weekend victory.

Slightly further behind Fundora in the developmental process, but making just as much noise as a potential star, is Jesus Ramos.

The 20-year-old previously told Insider that he wants to get so good at boxing that his name is mentioned in the same way people talk about Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao today.

With a hard-hitting reputation, there is an expectation to perhaps see "Mono" continue to knock people out, but Javier Molina took the youngster the full distance in Southern California.

Despite the bout going to the scorecards, Ramos had done more than enough to earn a lopsided win while showcasing spiteful left hooks to the body, and meticulous head shots.

Ramos may like what he was able to show Saturday.

He knows everyone sees him as a knockout puncher, but against a durable opponent he demonstrated he is fully capable of winning easily after 10 rounds of battle, too.

Crowd disturbances were plentiful in Carson

This was the first boxing event in California to permit a partial fan allowance.

Some of those who attended were so excited to see live fights, that they took part in some themselves.

Check it out:

-MiguelAngelMaravilla (@MigMaravilla) May 2, 2021