Jack Welsh
www.ringsports.com

It wasn’t a weighty problem after all for Roy Jones, Jr., to put his indelible stamp on greatness Saturday in reducing John Ruiz’s game plan to theory in winning the WBA heavyweight championship on a unanimous 12-round decision before 15,300 screaming spectators at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

For the 34-year-old Jones, 193, Pensacola, Fla., he is now the first lightheavyweight king to ascend to the throne since Michael Spinks ruined Larry Holmes’ undefeated reign Sept.21,1985 on a 15-round decision.

And going farther back, Jones also is the first middleweight ruler to get a piece of the big crown since Ruby Bob Fitzsimmons on Mar. 17, 1897 in Carson City, Nev., where he
knocked out Gentleman Jim Corbett in the 14th round. Corbett weighed 172 with Fitzsimmons at 156 1/2.

Ruiz,out of Chelsea, Mass., was 226 in his third defense but the swing of 33 pounds Jones was facing was never a factor.

Nevada’s licensed oddsmakers had Jones as a 2-1 choice but the confrontation wasn’t half old when it was clear the controversial challenger should have been 1-5.

In the official scoring, Las Vegas judges Duane Ford and Jerry Roth, respectively, had it 117-111 and 116-112 while Stan Christodoulou, Johannesburg, South Africa, saw it118-110. Sportsform’s tab was 117-112.

Reflecting in the post-fight media session, the unmarked Jones declared, ”I didn’t do this for myself, I did it for boxing because boxing has needed a big fight.”

“I take my hat to John for taking this fight. I have to be honest, when I looked at tapes of Ruiz’s fights, I thought, ‘Damn, how am I’m going to beat him?’ Well, Mackie Shilstone, my conditioning coach, did a great job putting 20 pounds on me and we kept it a secret. I also watched Chris Byrd (the IBF champion) and the way he used his skills as a heavyweight. This was a hard fight, never easy and it took a lot of preparation. That was the key,” said the now world champion in four weight classes as his credentials moved to 48-1, 38 KOs.

Ruiz, dipping to 38-5-1, 27 KOs, stayed in his dressing room icing a swollen nose but made no excuses.

“In this business, you have good days and bad days. I’ll go back to the gym and reflect on my professional life and my personal life and then maybe I’ll decide what to do.”

The 6’ 3” deposed champion made incredible financial concessions to fight Jones, contending “winning this fight will open up some mega fights for me.”

Jones, long criticized by the media for collecting mega-millions from HBO for facing dubious challengers, outdid himself at the bank this trip. Promoter Don King begrudingly garanteed Jones $10 million plus 60 percent of the revenue generated by pay-per-view with the 40 percent balance being split by Ruiz and King.

Many respected boxing analysts felt Jones might be biting off more than he could chew. Ruiz admittedly didn’t match Jones’ natural skills nor speed. But “The Quiet Man” was rough, and tough with a heart bigger than New England. If the big question-mark champ
could impose his physical personality on the fluid Jones, it might be a helluva fight.

Bob Foster, one of the greatest 175-pound monarchs in history who was kayoed by Joe Frazier in 1970, contended if Jones “doesn’t get Ruiz in four rouds, it could be a long night.”

The roughhousing theory from Ruiz was there in round one when the underdog rushed out and worked Jones into the ropes. Jones threw a left-right and jumped into a clinch.

Jones threw a short right to the head but Ruiz roused the crowd with two lefts. Ruiz, feinting out of a semi-crouch, threw three rights but Jones was cool as they exchanged punches at the bell.

The house expected more of the same from the pressing fighter with the Puerto Rican heritage, Ruiz used those herky-jerky head and shoulder feints trying to get inside to bull his clever adversary in the ropes. Jones’ camp said he wouldn’t get into a slugfest with Ruiz and he didn’t. However, the agile Jones was able to score with head snapping jabs but not always in combinations,

Just when it looked like Jones might be in harms’ way on the ropes, he would use gloves and wrap them around Ruiz’s ample head. Roy the Royal seemed to rattle the hope of New England with those spearing one-at-a-time jabs.

More important with this manuever, Jones had Ruiz rarely able to land flush with either hand, even when he was able to rush his tormenter into the ropes. Ruiz’s nose began to drip blood and it was steady after four rounds.

Jones’ speed and elusiveness seemed to frustrate the now plodding Ruiz, who after wining the opening round ,did not get the unanimous nod from the judges until the eighth heat.

Ruiz was able to roughhouse Jones early that round, which he should have been doing much earlier. When Ruiz bulled Jones into the ropes, the latter was back with those gloves around the other guy’s head and then walked from him in a taut before the bell.

Jones kept doing his thing but there would be no knockdowns and the spectators began to
insult the scenario when Ruiz was going to survive simply on his unshakable tenacity.

Ruiz’s frustration was obvious in the 10th round when referee Jay Nady warned his twice for cuffing with the open glove and then being careless with his head fighting inside.

Jones’ had his dancing shoes on in the last two rounds with the knockout Ruiz needed to save his title beyond his reach. However, Ruiz, ending a two-year winning run, did not roll over and did enough to win his third round the night with all judges.

It was academic, but Jones dominated in the three categories of CompuBox stats, notably in power punches where the new WBA champion scored with 77 of 204 for 38 percent
while Ruiz’s tab was 52 of 216 shots for 24 percent.

Lennox Lewis, the WBC heavyweight champion in to work as a TV color commentator was impressed with Jones’ performance.

“This was a challenge that Roy Jones couldn’t pass up and he took full advantage of it to be the heavyweight champion on the world,” said Lewis, who has a tentative defense June 21 with no challenger.

Jones was pleased with Lewis’ kind words.

“Lennox is a great heavyweight champion and I love Lennox. I have known Lewis and we go back a long ways. Lennox is the best of the big heavyweights out there.”

When a British reporter asked Jones on the possibility of fighting Mike Tyson in the future, Roy smiled; They would have to pay me a lot of money just to talk about it.”

(Jack Welsh is a syndicated columnist headquarters in Las Vegas.)