Boxing Profile: John Ruiz

If you can’t perform like a champion at least act like one.

I have been a detractor of John Ruiz since his first bout with Evander Holyfield. He was an undeserving opponent who in all reality was considered a safe opponent for the aging Holyfield. Up until that time, Ruiz’s most notable fight was a knockout loss to David Tua. Luck was on Ruiz’s side the night he faced Evander, however and he left with the WBA belt strapped around his waist. Though he lost and regained the belt again in what was one of the worst trilogies in boxing history, he was still the champion and with Evander out of the way, it seemed as though Ruiz was ready to make his mark in heavyweight history, or so he claimed.

The reign of Ruiz became short lived after Roy Jones entered the picture and dominated the WBA king, taking his title and most of his heart in a unanimous decision victory. Later that evening when leaving the arena with tears in his eyes, Ruiz cried wrongdoing on his behalf and felt cheated. This was not the action of a world champion but that was the beginning of a long series of complaints, which seem to become somewhat of a Ruiz trademark.

Roy Jones soon vacated the belt to move back down to light heavy and in steps Ruiz once again, this time to face Hasim Rahman for the interim version of the WBA title. Ruiz managed to get a win over the out of shape former champion and then follows up with defenses against ranked but lightly regarded Fres Oquendo and the self destructive Andrew Golota. Now with two successful defenses of his belt, Ruiz suddenly has a new attitude, in that he starts making claims of being the best heavyweight in the world. He openly speaks of wanting a divisional tourney and to unify the belts. So the world can have, as he states “a real world champion”.

Of course, with politics in boxing being what it is, not to mention promoter clashes, this is easier said than done and Ruiz knows this. He is able to at least claim that he threw the challenges out there and can then say that no one took him up on his offer, although he didn’t try very hard to make those fights happen, thus hoping to give himself more credibility in the public eye among the four major title holders.

Not so fast Johnny Boy…enter James Toney, the multi division former world champion. With a classic James Toney performance and with relative ease, he takes the WBA title from “The Quiet Man” and openly brags about his win. That makes the second time that Ruiz has been beaten by a former super middleweight. Again, Ruiz cries foul and throws a public tantrum. This time though there is some truth to John’s claims as Toney tests positive for steroids and ” The Crying Man ” gets his belt back. So, Ruiz reminds us yet once more that he is the best heavyweight in the world. Once again the only people to believe this hype are Ruiz and his camp. But hey, it is now a fact that the only way to beat Ruiz is to cheat. If you don’t believe me just ask him yourself.

Act four; Nikolay Valuev, a Russian monster with the speed of a garden turtle and skills of a faded journeyman outpoints Ruiz for his title. Again, John Ruiz has been robbed. The judges have swindled the “Quiet Man” out of his title, this time in Germany.

Now, for some reason when I hear John Ruiz’s name mentioned, soap opera music plays and I am expecting Susan Lucci to walk onto the camera next to him, telling him that this has all been a plot by her to gain revenge over his trying to take over her cosmetic company.

John, I am asking you to take a long look at yourself.

You have had the title more times than you could have ever deserved. The boxing world has given you gift decisions that Don King couldn’t buy. Appreciate your moment in the sun. Show some pride in your career. If you are the champion you claim that you are, then show the actions of a champion. If you do this now until the end of your career, you may salvage some of your legacy. Tarnished as it may be, why be known as the crybaby of the big boys?

At best you are an average fighter, just accept it.

In the history of the heavyweight division we have had some awful champions. Fighters like Primo Carnera, Ingemar Johanssen, Trevor Berbick…but they can all at least say one thing. When they lost, they accepted it like a man and either continued on their careers or hung up the gloves. If there was one thing that they learned from being a champion, it was how to accept the fate of one. Everyone loses, and no one is swindled as many times as you claim.

So, if you have anything left of your pride and dignity, either train hard and come back strong for your belt or go home. You are one fight away from being the worst champion in heavyweight history. Don’t you care? If not then at least respect the history of the title and the actions of all the other champions in the sport who have and still conduct themselves as such. If you can’t, then at least do something befitting of your nickname and quietly fade away.