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.

Second reign as WBA champion

Roy Jones, Jr. was now a world heavyweight champion, but he was still bored. He could not decide whether to: return to light-heavyweight; retire immediately as an ?undefeated? world heavyweight champion; or, remain WBA world Heavyweight Champion and try to unify the division's other titles (giving up his light-heavyweight belts in the process). Jones soon failed to meet the WBA-imposed deadline to face Vitali Klitschko, its #1 contender. As per its rules, the WBA meanwhile set up a bout between Klitschko and #2-ranked Hasim Rahman for an interim version of its heavyweight belt. The interim champion would subsequently fight Jones to settle their title's disputed status.

Related Topics:
Vitali Klitschko - Hasim Rahman

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Vitali Klitschko refused contractual negotiations for the Rahman match, opposed to fighting for a tainted championship. The WBA then turned to David Tua, its #3 contender. While Tua initially agreed to fight Rahman, he later pulled out of the bout, too. Ruiz, whom Tua had knocked out in 19 seconds ? but as the #5 contender, the highest-ranked fighter willing to take the match ? agreed to fight Rahman, a former WBC / IBF world heavyweight champion who had won and lost those belts to Lennox Lewis (by knockout) in 2001.

Related Topics:
David Tua - WBC - IBF

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On December 13, 2003, Ruiz defeated Rahman by unanimous decision, earning him the first-ever WBA Interim world Heavyweight Title. On February 20, 2004, Roy Jones, Jr. advised the WBA that he would return to the light-heavyweight division, vacating its heavyweight championship. The WBA then removed the ?interim? tag from Ruiz?s championship status, declaring his victory over Rahman good enough to warrant being the official WBA world Heavyweight Champion.

Related Topics:
December 13 - 2003 - February 20 - 2004 - Heavyweight championship

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On ], 2004, Ruiz fought the first defense of his second world title. He retained it with an eleventh-round technical knockout (TKO; the referee stops the fight due to one boxer taking a sustained beating without sufficiently fighting back, in the referee?s opinion) of Fres Oquendo at Madison Square Garden. This fight was historic in that it was the first time two Hispanics/Latinos faced each other for a world heavyweight title.

Related Topics:
2004 - Technical knockout - TKO - Fres Oquendo - Madison Square Garden - Hispanic - Latino

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On November 13 of that same year, Ruiz retained the belt with a close unanimous-decision over Polish-American Andrzej Golota, though suffering 2 knockdowns and a one-point reduction by referee Randy Neumann.

Related Topics:
November 13 - Andrzej Golota - Randy Neumann

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On April 30, 2005, Ruiz lost the title ? sort of ? to Toney in Madison Square Garden, becoming the first boxer to have both of his heavyweight championship reigns ended by former middleweights. However, after failing the post-match drug test (for stanozolol, an anabolic steroid), the New York Athletic Commission suspended Toney from boxing in the USA for 90 days, and fined him $10,000 (U.S.). The WBA barred the aging (then 36 years-old) Toney from fighting for its heavyweight belt for the next two years. This resulted in Toney's win being changed to a "no contest", essentially cancelling the result; Ruiz was given back the belt.

Related Topics:
April 30 - 2005 - Madison Square Garden

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