DOWNEY – Adelaida Ruiz isn’t afraid to admit she’s looking ahead. 

The undefeated professional boxer from Downey has several titles in her sights – the IBF, WBO and WBC – but first she needs to get past Sonia Osorio. 

The fight is for Osorio’s WBC interim world female super flyweight title and serves as the co-main event of a Golden Boy Fight Night card airing live Thursday night from Costa Rica. DAZN will stream the card live. 

It will be a rematch after the first bout between Ruiz (11-0-1) and Osorio (15-7-2) ended in a no contest due to an accidental headbutt in the first round. Osorio lasted one more round then was unable to continue.

“It was very frustrating because for that fight we trained really hard just like any other fight, but it was my first title fight,” said Ruiz. “It was like teasing a kid with candy and then saying, ‘Oh, never mind.’”

This time around, Ruiz plans to carefully handle Osorio early and take her into later rounds. 

“She’s a fighter that leads a lot with her head,” said Ruiz, nicknamed La Cobra for her fast striking ability. “This time we’re going to try to keep her on the outside, not allowing her to come in much with her head. And after the fourth round we’re going to go ahead and work with what we need to do.” 

Ruiz, 33, is a heavy-handed puncher whose amateur fights often ended in the first or second round. That power carried over to the professional ranks: of her 11 professional wins, six have come by way of knockout. 

“I tell people, I don’t have to work for my power, it just comes naturally,” said Ruiz. 

Ruiz grew up in Lynwood with 10 brothers and sisters. Each of them spent time in a boxing ring but it was Ruiz who took the sport most seriously, especially as women’s boxing increased in popularity. She made her professional debut in 2017 at the Quiet Cannon in Montebello.

Today she juggles boxing with being a mother to three children. She also has a daytime job in the healthcare industry. 

“It’s not impossible,” Ruiz said of balancing boxing and family life. “When I debuted as a professional boxer, I had to let go of a lot of things and prioritize what was important in my life. Basically that was my work, my family and my gym. It’s hard but not impossible.” 

Ruiz and her family moved to Downey in 2017, settling into an apartment on Imperial Highway. They later moved to another home, still in Downey.

“I really liked everything about Downey,” Ruiz said. “It’s very different from Lynwood. I do my morning runs here, I do my late night runs here, and I don’t really have to worry about anything. The neighbors are great, everybody has a dog, everybody walks.” 

When Ruiz returns home from Costa Rica, she’s confident it will be with new hardware. 

“I’m winning this belt, I’m bringing it back home,” Ruiz said. “My promoter [MarvNation] is already working on my next fight, we’re just looking to get all these belts.”