Ruiz, John

Debuted in August 1992 . He began his career in the 1st heavyweight. The first fights held against weak opponents.

Fight with Sergey Kobozev

On August 12, 1993, the battle of two undefeated boxers took place - John Ruiz and Sergey Kobozev . The fight was equal, but the Russian was more aggressive. By a separate decision of the judges, Kobozev was declared the winner.

1993 - 1995

In 1993, Ruiz went into heavyweight.

In May 1994, he knocked out Julius Francis .

In 1994, he again lost by a split decision, this time to Daniel Nicholson .

In February 1995, he won on points undefeated Boris Powell (23-0).

Fight with David Tua

In March 1996, Ruiz entered the battle against the Samoan David Tua . The battle lasted only 19 seconds. David Tua sent his opponent to the hardest knockout - Ruiz was lying on the floor for several minutes.

1996 - 1999

Fight with Tony Tucker

In 1998, he met with Tony Tucker for the NABF belt. Tucker knocked down twice in rounds 1 and 11. Despite Ruiz's big problems in round 6, Tucker lost in round 11.

Evander Holyfield Trilogy

In August 2000, a fight was held for the vacant WBA heavyweight title between John Ruiz and Evander Holyfield . The battle took place in the middle and close range. None of the boxers had an advantage. Following the results of 12 rounds, the judges declared Holyfield the winner by a close decision, who became the 4-time world heavyweight champion. In a post-match interview with Showtime, Ruiz said he believes the judges “robbed” him. Holyfield said that without any problems would give revenge to the enemy ^[1] .

In March 2001, the 2nd battle took place between John Ruiz and Evander Holyfield. Most of the battle was like the first fight. At the beginning of the 11th round, Ruiz struck a right hook into the opponent's head. Holyfield collapsed onto the canvas. He rose to the score 6. After the resumption of the battle, Ruiz rushed to finish him off. Holyfield immediately clucked and did not let go of the enemy for several seconds. After the referee was able to separate them, Ruiz again began to attack. Holyfield tried to clinch, but not always succeeded. He almost did not answer, while the applicant turned out successful series in the head. The entire Holyfield round was on the verge of knockout. At the end of the match, the judges unanimously declared John Ruiz ^{[2] [3] the} winner.

In December 2001, Holyfield met with John Ruiz for the third time. Like the two previous meetings between the boxers, it lasted all 12 rounds and was not particularly spectacular. According to a computer analysis of the battle, 152 out of 470 Holyfield hits reached the target (at Ruiz - 141 out of 411). The refereeing of Don O'Neill, who lives, like Ruiz, in Massachusetts, caused the most heated debate after the match. As it turned out, the judge is personally acquainted with the world champion. O'Neill gave the last 7 rounds to Ruiz, although it was obvious, albeit insignificant, but the superiority of Evander Holyfield. At the post-match press conference, it came to almost a fight. Holyfield adviser Jim Thomas was indignant: “I refuse to play dishonest games and do not want to pretend that we did not see what really happened. Everyone in America knows who won - Holyfield. ” To which manager Ruiz Norman Stone replied with an obscene expression. Ruiz’s team was pleased even with such a scandalous outcome of the fight, because according to the WBA rules, in the event of a tie, the belt remains with the world champion. True, another battle with Holyfield cost Ruiz a broken nose in the first round. But the game was worth the candle, because Ruiz received $ 3.2 million for the fight with Holyfield. Former World Champion Holyfield, who has earned more than $ 200 million in his career, does not need money. And he agreed to conduct another battle with Ruiz, not for the sake of some 2 million dollars, but in order to fulfill his dream - to become the only five-time world champion in history. [ ^{[4] [5] [6]} .

Fight with Kirk Johnson

In July 2002, a fight was fought between WBA world heavyweight champion John Ruiz and undefeated Kirk Johnson . At the end of the 1st round, Johnson made a left uppercut in the groin, and Ruiz, stooped over, fell on the canvas. Referee Joe Cortes took a point from the Canadian. At the end of the 4th round, Johnson again left a left uppercut in the groin, and Ruiz, bent again, sank down on canvas. This time, the referee limited himself to an oral warning, not getting to remove the point from the Canadian. After the resumption of the fight, Ruiz attacked Johnson and, clutching in a clinch, had a header. The referee suspended the match and began to inspire them with how to behave in the ring. At this time, Ruiz again attempted a header. The referee asked Ruiz and then Johnson: “Do you want to be disqualified?” The round ended with the rumble of a displeased audience. In the middle of the 7th round, Johnson again hit the groin with his left uppercut, and Ruiz fell back on the canvas. The referee took a point from the applicant. Ruiz rested for five minutes. At the end of the 9th round, Ruiz held a left hook to Johnson's jaw. He immediately went to the clinch. Ruiz pushed him away. Johnson fell onto the canvas. Ruiz, clinging to him, also fell into the ring. The referee did not consider this a knockdown. There were 20 seconds left until the end of the round. Ruiz began to attack violently, and Johnson tried to escape in clinics. Immediately after the gong, Ruiz ran a right hook on the back of his head and Johnson fell. The referee did not consider this a knockdown or a violation. At the end of the 10th round, Johnson for the fourth time held a left uppercut below the waist . This time, Ruiz did not fall. However, the referee stopped the bout without hesitation, disqualifying the Canadian ^[7] .

Roy Jones Fight

In March 2003, John Ruiz lost to former middleweight Roy Jones ^{[8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]} .

Fight with Hasim Rahman

In December 2003, a fight for the title of interim heavyweight champion in the WBA version between John Ruiz and Hasim Rahman took place . The fight was very boring: both boxers constantly clinched, and the referee had to separate them all the time. Unanimous victory was awarded to Ruiz. Rahman did not agree with the verdict of the judges, saying in a post-match interview that he had outplayed the enemy with a jab, delivered more punches, and Ruiz’s face looked beaten up.

2004 - 2005

After Roy Jones returned to the light heavyweight, the full WBA heavyweight world title according to the WBA was returned to John Ruiz.

Fres Oquendo Fight

Ruiz then defeated Fres Oquendo ^{[14] [15]} .

Fight with Andrew Golota

In November 2004, Ruiz entered the ring against Andrzej Golota . At a telephone press conference, Ruiz said: “The fight with Golota is unlikely to be very difficult. It’s hard even to imagine a better opponent than Golota, who breaks down as soon as you push him. ” Golota, who also took part in the press conference, surprisingly calmly reacted to these statements by Ruiz. “Let him say it doesn’t bother me,” he said, and also stated that he was confident of victory and was going to knock out Ruiz “around the fifth or eighth round.” His trainer Sam Colonna also added that Andrzej showed himself very well in preparation for the fight, having managed to disable two sparring partners during the sparring. In the second round, John Ruiz was knocked down twice. In the fourth round, a point was shot from him for hitting an opponent after the Stop command. This was the first time that Ruiz was fined for violations, although he had already managed to conduct a series of "dirty fights". Golota won the fight and surpassed the opponent in terms of the number of hits, but Ruiz unanimously awarded the victory, and according to 3 judges Ruiz won 9 rounds out of 12. In a post-match interview, Ruiz called the fight with Golota the hardest fight in his career. This was the 5th defense of the Ruiz title, as well as the 5th victory over boxers in the top ten. The decision was controversial, many experts and viewers felt that Golota had won.

Fight James Tony

In April 2005, Ruiz lost to another former middleweight, James Toney , but after a positive doping test with Tony, the result was changed to “no contest” ^{[16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21]} .

2005 - 2007

Fight with Nikolai Valuev 1

At the end of 2005 he went to Germany, where in close combat he lost the title to Nikolai Valuev ^{[22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [ 33]} .

Qualifying battle with Ruslan Chagaev

In 2006, he again went to Germany, where he held the eliminator match with Ruslan Chagaev ^{[34]. The} fight was held with a slight advantage Ruslan Chagaev, who was a little more accurate in each round. Ruiz, in this battle, abandoned his usual tactics when he tried to exhaust the rivals in the clinch, and constantly went to the exchange with blows. However, there were no truly dangerous moments for any of the boxers for the fight. As a result, the judges decided the outcome of the battle. One judge unexpectedly gave the victory to John Ruiz with a score: 115-114. However, two other judges rightly considered that Chagaev was stronger: 117–111 and 116–112.

Preliminaries Jamil McCline

In March 2007, a qualifying fight for the World Heavyweight Championship was held according to the WBC between John Ruiz and Jameel McCline . Ruiz confidently won on points. The fight was an undercard of Nate Campbell's fights - Juan Diaz and Samuel Peter - Oleg Maskaev , organized by HBO . However, the fight between Ruiz and McCline did not broadcast on HBO .

Fight with Nikolai Valuev 2

In August 2008, the 2nd battle took place between John Ruiz and Nikolai Valuev. At stake was the vacant WBA heavyweight title. The fight was like the first fight: there was also a lot of equal fight and clinches. At the end of the 10th round, Valuev pushed Ruiz to the floor. He fell. The referee withdrew from the Russian for this one point. At the end of the battle, the judges divided the victory to Nikolai Valuev by a separate decision. It later turned out that the Japanese judge Takeshi Shimakawa actually gave the victory not to the Puerto Rican, but to the Russian ^[35] .

Champion fight with David Hay

The fight began very actively: Ruiz immediately went ahead, pressing the champion, but this did not bother him at all and after his left-right combination the American boxer was knocked down. Ruiz managed to get up, and Haye immediately rushed to finish, while several times hitting his opponent in the back of the head, for which he received a warning from the referee. After a difficult first round, Ruiz did not stop attacking and working as the first number, but this tactic did not bring him much success, since Haye successfully counterattacked, using his advantage in speed and striking power. At the very end of the fifth round, Haye struck on the right, after which Ruiz knelt down and was knocked down. At the beginning of the sixth three-minute situation repeated, and the referee again opened the score. Nevertheless, Ruiz continued to move forward, trying to force his opponent to fight at a more convenient distance for himself, which, however, did not work out, and Haye managed to overtake him over and over again. In the next rounds, the advantage of the Briton became more noticeable and in the ninth period of time, after Haye's next successful attack, Ruiz's seconds threw a towel, refusing to continue the fight

Fight Results

Региональные титулы

Мировые титулы

• Track record (Eng.)
• Official site
• Battle video clip