IMPERIAL, Calif. _ As the Rolls Royce transporting the heavyweight champion of the world crept along Saturday in relatively tame 95-degree heat, considered an odd form of relief in the oft-baked valley, the seven-block hug began.
First past Johnny's Burritos, a favorite fuel stop for Andy Ruiz Jr. _ an unknown boxing grinder mere weeks ago who now calls the president of Mexico a friend, shared green room space with the cast of the Hollywood blockbuster "Dark Phoenix" and flirts with Snickers over an endorsement deal.
The procession inched past Donut Avenue, where the chubby kid religiously chugged sweet tea on the way home. Then to a corner near Ben Hulse Elementary, where Ruiz was sent home for fighting more times than the school's former principal cared to count.
As all those chapters unfolded in front of him through a bizarre lens after pocketing, according to The Guardian, a paycheck in the range of $7 million for flattening former champion Anthony Joshua on June 1 at New York's Madison Square Garden.
The crowd lining the streets did not see dollar signs, however. They saw themselves. As they strained for autographs, for pictures, for simple acknowledgment, Ruiz provided the mirror.
In Imperial, a place where you battle finances as much as the Fahrenheit readings, Ruiz represents more than a boxing champion. He triumphed over doubt, over blocked paths and stubborn perceptions.
"We're all connected," said Reyna Gutierrez, 46, who lives in nearby Heber and was raised in Calexico. "He's the major piece of this little puzzle we have here. There's a lot of pride. He's the first Mexican to win the heavyweight title of the world, you know?
"It's living proof dreams can come true."
If this story unfolded in Los Angeles or New York, Ruiz quickly would be lost in the haze of frantic, distracted lives. In Imperial County, Ruiz roundhouse-punched the pause button with the sport's biggest upset in a generation.
Nearly all among the 2,000 or more who attended a post-parade rally on the football field at Imperial High School feel they can claim a little piece of this for themselves. He fought. They fight. One in a ring. All, in life.
"He wasn't born with a silver spoon in his mouth. It was more like born with rusty barbwire," said County Supervisor Mike Kelley, who has known Andy's namesake father for decades. "But he spit it out, took life by the reins and made it happen.
"The support is bleeding out of every community member in Imperial County."
On a large stage Saturday, Ruiz addressed the crowd with a simple explanation about rebounding from a third-round knockdown against England's Joshua to plant him on the canvas four times and earn a technical knockout.
It seemed Ruiz, however, framed a much bigger picture to all those eager ears.
"When I got knocked down," said Ruiz, 29, "I got back up."
