By Tom Donelson
Never has a boxer in recent times been a victim of more derision than John Ruiz. I will admit that I was one of those who would cringe the entire time during a Ruiz fight. Yet, there was something noble about the guy. For one, he did not rape, plunder or pillage outside the ring. He conducted himself with dignity at a press conference, never touching his crotch or unleashing a series of expletives. He was, well, the Quiet man. He never seemed to land in jail, much less get a traffic ticket.
Ruiz carried his blue-collar attitude in the ring when he fought. Nothing special, he would mug you and hug you. He would pound your body and then wrestle with you. There was nothing pretty about a John Ruiz fight but the guy won. Since 1996, he lost to three hall of fame fighters and to Tua, who had the talent to be a hall of fame fighter. The only guys who could beat Ruiz were hall of Famers. Everyone else lost. Every top ten fighter who was not or is destined for boxing Hall of Fame and even one Hall of Fame fighter (Holyfield), he beat.
When Roy Jones beat Ruiz, I downplayed the victory but now it has to be clear that Toney beat one of the top three heavyweights in the world. How can I say that? Look at the record. Who has beaten Ruiz? As I have mentioned before, when Ruiz faced a top ten fighter, he usually won. Ruiz was not a great fighter but he was a good fighter. His biggest skill was forcing the other guy to fight his fight. Ruiz may have been boring press, but he conducted himself with class outside the ring. At Toney’s press conference, Toney disparaged Ruiz. Toney is a great fighter but there is just a thing called sportsmanship. A simple acknowledgement of Ruiz's contribution to boxing would have been nice. Let face it, if Toney disparaged Ruiz as trash, he is also disparaging his own accomplishment- wining a heavyweight title and being of only one of three middleweights to do it.
Which brings me to Toney. Toney is a boxing master. What surprised me the most was Toney’s ability to fight 12 rounds and dictate the pace of the fight despite his lack of conditioning. Toney’s secret is that he does not waste motion. He shuffles from side to side but limits his movement to conserve energy. He fights relaxed and as I have mentioned before, the guy could avoid punches in a phone booth.
Toney’s defensive skills are impressive as Ruiz missed on three quarters of his shots against the elusive Toney despite the fact that Toney was pretty much in front of him!
Another aspect of Toney’s game is his accuracy. When Toney is on, he rarely misses his target. Against Ruiz, one of every two punches headed for Ruiz found their target. Ruiz's face and left side of his body showed evidence of Toney’s punches as welts developed.
We may not fully realize how good this guy is. He lost only four fights in a career that has spanned from the late 80’s. Toney has fought many of the better fighters in his era from Middleweight to Heavyweight. We remember Toney more for his failure against Roy Jones but forget the number of other fighters that Toney conquered. As a fight progressed, Toney tended to get stronger. This was never more evidence than against Michael Nunn. Behind on points against Nunn, Toney came up with an eleventh round knockout. Another of Toney’s secret is that he wears you out. He is always thinking and with his relaxed style, he rarely tires in the ring. His ability to maintain his power throughout a fight is one of his underestimated skills.
When I was picking the fight, I never thought that Toney would have the gas and power to keep Ruiz off him. With a shortened training camp and reportedly overweight going into camp, the word was that Toney was not properly trained for this fight.
Toney fooled us all but anyone who has studied this master would have known or should have known better. (That includes this writer.) Toney’s ability to slip punches, his foot movement design to save energy, and accurate punches that hit their target from the head to toe, are part of a style that allows him to survive any boxing situation.
Toney beat a good Heavyweight to gain a piece of the title and soon he will challenge Chris Byrd for his IBF title. (Toney would love to chop down the giant Klitschko but Vitali has his dance card filled after he recovers from his surgery.)
Which brings us to Don King. As Frank Lotierzo once wrote, Don King is the true heavyweight champion. For over three decades, King had the promotional right to almost every major champion. And he now control three-quarter of the titles that people recognized with any merit. And if Rahman beats Vitali, then he will control all aspect of the Heavyweight title.
King has played his hand smoothly. By sending Hasim Rahman against Klitschko, King is sending the one man who may have the style to defeat the Ukrainian fighter. Rahman is an effective jabber with a long reach and as his victory over Lewis showed, Rahman can beat a big fighter. As for the rest of the bunch, he can set up Toney against Byrd or maybe the winner of the Brewster-Golota fight. King has at least one fighter who can sell tickets and cause a little stir in the division. And he can set up a tournament to determine his own champion to face up against Klitschko- just in case, Rahman fails to defeat Klitschko.
This weekend saw history being made as Toney beat a game Ruiz and Don King took a step closer to uniting the entire Heavyweight kingdom under his rule.
