John Ruiz: “I Make People Quit.”

When John Ruiz gets in the ring, things usually get ugly. Put Andrew Golota in there with him, and things could get a lot uglier. That’s the possibility Saturday night when Ruiz defends his WBA heavyweight title against Golota as part of a heavyweight extravaganza at Madison Square Garden that features more than a ton of boxing’s biggest fighters. Ruiz owns a piece of the heavyweight title despite a clinching, hugging style that draws more boos than cheers from the fans he hasn’t already put to sleep. Still, it has been effective enough for Ruiz to be able to claim that he is a two-time heavyweight champion. “I’m not the prettiest fighter out there,” Ruiz said. “But I come to win and I make people quit. That’s what they’re afraid of.”

Golota, meanwhile, draws fear for a different reason. He got his nickname, the “Foul Pole,’ for repeatedly hitting Riddick Bowe below the belt and being disqualified in fights he was winning, and even now there are questions about his mental stability in the ring. Golota did nothing to put those questions to rest in the weeks leading up to the fight when he complained he was being forced into a fight he didn’t want and would rather retire than continue his brief comeback anyway. The two meet in a scheduled twelve-round fight that tops a card which also includes a title defense by IBF champion Chris Byrd against his good friend, Jameel McCline, and appearances by former champions Evander Holyfield and Hasim Rahman.

“This card will be like reviving the heavyweight division and is the next step for me to unifying the titles,” Ruiz said. That’s not likely, since promoter Don King controls all the fighters and won’t risk losing a champion by pitting them against each other. And the heavyweight most consider the best of the three major champions, WBC champion Vitali Klitschko, isn’t in any big hurry to risk his title against anyone who might beat him. The card, though, gives a bunch of big fighters a chance to get some work, and offers the very real possibility of two of the titles changing hands.