It's "Lights Out" For John Ruiz
Insomnia cure? No way. This fight was more than "very good."
It was what many boxing fans wanted. We railed on about his "ugly style." We hated how he clenched and held and bullied opponents against the ropes. But however ugly John Ruiz's style was, it worked for him... until tonight. In a telling statement during his ringside commentary, Jim Lampley mentioned meeting with Ruiz a few weeks prior to the fight at Ruiz's request. He wanted to discuss how he could be a "more entertaining" fighter. Bowing to fan pressure may have been his undoing.
It was apparent from the start that Ruiz had abandoned the formula for winning fights that had served him so well for so long. Ironically, his stylistic departure, while serving as his downfall, also produced his most exciting fight. He tried to box Toney on the outside, but it just never worked for him. He never could stick the jab because even a bloated James Toney was too slick for him. By the end of the fight, Ruiz was bruised, reddened, and bloody from taking body shots and hard rights from a relaxed, confident, and strong James Toney.
Norman Stone has nothing to complain about. Referee Steve "Very Good" Smoger did an excellent job. Even if you disagreed with his 7th round knockdown call (Ruiz went down on a questionable punch/trip combination), and scored it 10-9 Toney instead of 10-8, Toney still won the fight by a handy margin. The judges gave it to him unanimously, two of them scoring it 116-111, and one 115-112 (I don't know what fight he was watching; I had it 117-110).
Unfortunately, Ruiz's abrupt and classless departure after the fight did little to endear him to this fan. He didn't bother to congratulate Toney, or grant HBO a post-fight interview. I'm probably like many other fans in saying good riddance, John. Let's just hope Don King lives up to his promise to let the top men with their respective alphabet titles actually fight so we can finally have one undisputed champ. It remains to be seen if John Ruiz will ever figure into that mix again. You can bet James Toney will.
It was what many boxing fans wanted. We railed on about his "ugly style." We hated how he clenched and held and bullied opponents against the ropes. But however ugly John Ruiz's style was, it worked for him... until tonight. In a telling statement during his ringside commentary, Jim Lampley mentioned meeting with Ruiz a few weeks prior to the fight at Ruiz's request. He wanted to discuss how he could be a "more entertaining" fighter. Bowing to fan pressure may have been his undoing.
It was apparent from the start that Ruiz had abandoned the formula for winning fights that had served him so well for so long. Ironically, his stylistic departure, while serving as his downfall, also produced his most exciting fight. He tried to box Toney on the outside, but it just never worked for him. He never could stick the jab because even a bloated James Toney was too slick for him. By the end of the fight, Ruiz was bruised, reddened, and bloody from taking body shots and hard rights from a relaxed, confident, and strong James Toney.
Norman Stone has nothing to complain about. Referee Steve "Very Good" Smoger did an excellent job. Even if you disagreed with his 7th round knockdown call (Ruiz went down on a questionable punch/trip combination), and scored it 10-9 Toney instead of 10-8, Toney still won the fight by a handy margin. The judges gave it to him unanimously, two of them scoring it 116-111, and one 115-112 (I don't know what fight he was watching; I had it 117-110).
Unfortunately, Ruiz's abrupt and classless departure after the fight did little to endear him to this fan. He didn't bother to congratulate Toney, or grant HBO a post-fight interview. I'm probably like many other fans in saying good riddance, John. Let's just hope Don King lives up to his promise to let the top men with their respective alphabet titles actually fight so we can finally have one undisputed champ. It remains to be seen if John Ruiz will ever figure into that mix again. You can bet James Toney will.
posted by curlygc at 12:07 AM
2 Comments:
I just heard that Ruiz retired. Not a suprise at all.
Here's my coverage of the fight FYI: http://jeboxing.blogspot.com/2005/05/toney-once-more-to-well-once-more.html
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