SaddoBoxing Preview Analysis: John Ruiz vs. James Toney.

At least eighty-percent of boxing fans would love to see John Ruiz get schooled, again, only this time by James Toney not Roy Jones Jr. Because of his fighting style, Ruiz has to be one of the least liked heavyweight champions of all time. Actually he is probably one of the least liked boxers pound-for-pound of all time, coming in a close

second behind the now retired (thank God) Sven Ottke. But why so hated? Ottke and Ruiz have the same jab and hug style, but Ottke was given some very, very dubious decisions from hometown judges, and British boxing fans will never forget the referee’s “performance’ in Ottke’s title defence against Robin Reid. Ruiz is no cheat though, not in the same way as Ottke. Every John Ruiz fight I have seen, I thought he did enough to win. Sure, it took about three days to get through the fight because I kept falling asleep when watching, but I thought he always did enough to edge it, so it is not like he’s being given decisions in the same way as Ottke. I put it down to the fact that he is a non-entity in the sport. His nickname is “The Quiet Man” and Ruiz lives up to this by usually saying very little. That is until recently. But even when he has been more vocal at press conferences to promote his upcoming fight with James Toney, there has still been a lack of conviction in his words; but does any boxer really need a mouth when they have Norman “Stoney” Stone as a trainer? Ruiz’ fighting style does not help either. Ruiz is not a big puncher, he isn’t a classy counter-puncher or a flashy punch and mover, and most of his last fights have had audiences booing at the total lack of action in the ring. Ruiz is also not a box office draw.

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James Toney has a big mouth. When you have a big mouth in boxing, the public are either going to take to you or they are going to hate you for it. Toney, after calling out and slating everyone in the heavyweight division seems to be getting a few fans for his antics. But why does this work for Toney but not for Floyd Mayweather? After all, I don’t think there is anyone on the planet that doesn’t think Floyd has the skills to back up what he says. Toney so far beat a totally shot Evander Holyfield and a blown-up cruiserweight in Rydell Booker, and has spent more time out of the gym due to injury than in it. So why do people like James Toney?

The heavyweight division is one of the worst in the world; it seems void of superstar characters and talented boxers. People are hoping that Toney can fill this gap. He’s brash and outspoken and never at a loss for words at a press conference. But he can fight. How well in this weight class still remains to be seen, but the consensus in the boxing public seems to be that everyone is hoping Toney is as good as he says he can be. We all know what he did in other weight classes, but that was a long time ago now. If Toney can put on some class performances and win some fights with knockouts, he is going to be the box-office draw the heavyweight division so desperately needs.

So now they meet. The most loved against the most hated, how will this fight pan out? There are some big question marks and a number of factors going into this fight that will affect the outcome. Team Toney have called for a clampdown on Ruiz’s hugging. Frequent clinching is an infringement of the rules of boxing. If the referee clamps down on this, Ruiz could be docked points. If not, could Ruiz nullify Toney’s work and steal another decision?

Toney has had three serious injuries: a torn Achilles and a torn bicep and tricep, the latter happening very early on in his last fight, affecting his performance. Are these injuries due to Toney now weighing in excess of 225-pounds? If Toney gets another serious injury during his fight with Ruiz, it could not only cause him to lose the match but it could be career threatening. Will Toney’s body stay intact and injury free long enough to win the fight? Then there is Ruiz’ manager/trainer Norman Stone, already sent back to the locker room early on at least one previous occasion for giving the referee grief, so has he learnt his lesson? A lot of needle exists between him and Toney, all of which manifested throughout the build up; can anyone be sure he can keep his cool?

My Prediction.

I think this is a much tougher fight to call than most think. If Ruiz can get away with hugging and fight his fight, then he could easily steal this one on the cards. It is also a real possibility that Toney could get injured and have his performance seriously affected. If I were a betting man, which I am, I’d put my money on James Toney. He’s slick enough and experienced enough to make Ruiz walk on to his punches when big Johnny goes for the trademark hug. There is a lot more to Toney’s game than Ruiz’ has to his. Toney is able to adapt his game plan to whatever Ruiz does. To me, Ruiz is too one-dimensional to beat a man as experienced as James Toney.

The Aftermath.

Should Ruiz win this bout, not only will there be the usual moans and groans, but he will have beaten the man that everyone wanted as the next big thing in the division, and he’ll have shut Toney’s mouth. But will he get any credit for it? I highly doubt it. That is unless we see Ruiz up on his toes, boxing off the jab and countering with clusters of aggressive shots ala Erik Morales. Ruiz has never fought like that before and I highly doubt that he’ll fight like that at the weekend.

If Toney wins there will be a lot of happy people. It’s bad news for “The Quiet Man” because he’s unpromoteable now as a world champion so I can’t see him getting a chance at any of the other titles. His only chance of a rematch with Toney will be if it’s a close and exciting contest that the fans will want to see again. When has John Ruiz ever been in a close and exciting contest that the fans will want to see again?

If he wins this fight, James Toney will be the new WBA champion and will be well on the way to cleaning up the division. The big question mark is will Toney be injury free long enough to try and unify the titles?

Ben Lynch can be reached at benjlynch@hotmail.com