John Ruiz

John ?The Quiet Man? Ruiz (born January 4, 1972), a native of Isabela, Puerto Rico who lives in Massachusetts, is the first Hispanic/Latino world heavyweight champion in professional boxing history. He currently is the two-time World Boxing Association (WBA) world Heavyweight Champion. His professional record is 41-5-1-1 (the last digit is for a no-contest), with 28 knockouts. Frustrated by years of criticism from the boxing press and fans, he retired upon his second loss of the WBA Title on April 30, 2005 (to James ?Lights-Out? Toney). Ruiz quickly ?un-retired? on the news that Toney tested positive for anabolic steroids after their match. The official outcome, a unanimous-decision defeat, was changed to a no-contest; the WBA ordered that Ruiz retain the title.

First reign as WBA champion

After Lennox Lewis defeated Evander Holyfield for the Undisputed (i.e., WBC + IBF + WBA) World Heavyweight Championship in late 1999, the WBA ordered Lewis to defend the title against Ruiz, its #1-ranked contender. Lewis refused, deeming Ruiz an unworthy challenger. Though undefeated since the Tua match, the level of competition Ruiz had been facing was suspect.

Related Topics:
Lennox Lewis - Evander Holyfield - WBC - IBF - 1999

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Ruiz and his management team sued, claiming that WBA rules entitled him to a title shot. A judge agreed, but rather than face Ruiz in a bout that was seen as commercially unattractive, Lewis instead fought Michael Grant, considered to be a very worthy contender at the time. After learning this, the judge decreed that upon entering the ring against Grant on April 29, 2000, Lewis would automatically forfeit the WBA Title.

Related Topics:
Michael Grant - April 29 - 2000

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Ruiz fought former champion Holyfield to fill the vacancy on August 12, 2000, losing by unanimous decision (this result made Holyfield the first to win a world heavyweight title on four separate occasions). Many observers and boxing reporters felt that the underdog Ruiz had done enough to win. Due to this controversial ?unanimous? decision, the WBA ordered an immediate rematch. On March 3, 2001, Ruiz won the WBA Championship in a slightly less-close unanimous decision. Ruiz defended the title twice: a draw in a third match against Holyfield, and a 10th-round victory over Canada?s Kirk Johnson (disqualified for repeatedly punching below the waist). On March 1, 2003 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada, Ruiz?s first reign as champion ended ? against a light-heavyweight whom he outweighed by over 30 lbs. He lost a lopsided unanimous decision to the legendary Roy Jones, Jr. This undisputed World Light-Heavyweight Champion had grown so bored with dominating his own weight class, he wanted to see if he could also conquer the (then, reportedly weak) heavyweight division.

Related Topics:
August 12 - 2000 - Unanimous decision - Heavyweight - March 3 - 2001 - Canada - Kirk Johnson - March 1 - 2003 - Caesars Palace - Las Vegas - Nevada - Light-heavyweight - Roy Jones, Jr.

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In defeating Ruiz, Jones joined Michael Spinks and Michael Moorer as the only world light-heavyweight champions to later win a world heavyweight title. Jones was also only the second former world middleweight champion to win a heavyweight title (the first being Bob Fitzsimmons, who beat ?Gentleman? Jim Corbett on March 17, 1897).

Related Topics:
Michael Spinks - Michael Moorer - Middleweight - Bob Fitzsimmons - Jim Corbett - March 17 - 1897

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