By Rick Reeno
The heavyweight division may or many be looking up tonight. A press release was sent out stating that the World Boxing Association notified the camp of WBA heavyweight champion John Ruiz that James "Lights Out" Toney is the mandatory challenger for his title. Don King was ordered to begin negotiations with Toney’s promoter, Goosen Tutor, in order to reach an agreement to stage the bout. If an agreement is not reached within 20 days of the order (February 9, 2005), Ruiz-Toney will go to a purse bid.
Fans are jumping up and down for joy right now as they believe Toney will be the fighter to stop the reign of Ruiz. This will be a very interesting match based upon the styles. Both fighters love to keep their opponent on the inside. The problem for Toney is that in order to beat Ruiz, you must either have tremendous power or fantastic boxing skills from the outside. David Tua and Roy Jones laid down the blueprint on how to beat John Ruiz. Tua is one of the few fighters in the sport that can knock an opponent out with a single blow, even if the blow is landed in the last round. The power of Tua is what gives him an edge against Ruiz. There is a reason that Ruiz was never running to stage another fight Tua, he knows that Tua has the style to beat him.
Tua loves fighting on the inside and due to his size, he needs to get in close. Ruiz does not have a good enough jab or outside fighting skills to keep Tua at bay. Tua cannot beat a skilled fighter with a great jab or speed in his legs, Ruiz has neither. Jones showed in his bout with Ruiz that if you box from the outside and keep Ruiz in the middle of the ring, you will have a very easy night. Jones switched up his punches to the point where Ruiz had no idea which punch was coming whenever Jones would feint him. Jones also let very few opportunities get by him as he always tried to counter when Ruiz would miss.
James Toney is not a big heavyweight puncher and he is not a Roy Jones type of boxer. Toney is a great inside fighter who knows how to intelligently slip punches and counter. The problem with Ruiz is that almost every expert agrees that in order to beat Ruiz, you must stay away and fight from the outside. Toney is too small to fight on the outside and loves to fight against the ropes and counter. Ruiz is a guy that you need to get in the middle of the ring. Once Ruiz traps you against the ropes, he will hug and tug you to death with some occasionally landed shots between the hugs.
This fight can be very exciting or very boring. Ruiz can easily hug and tug Toney for 12 boring rounds or Toney can get lucky by landing a no-nonsense referee that will not allow Ruiz to hold and force him to fight. Ruiz has very underrated power, he hits harder then most think. On the other hand, James Toney has one of the best chins in the business, the man can take a mean punch and has never been in trouble after getting tagged.
Everyone thought Hasim Rahman would beat Ruiz and Ruiz hugged, tugged and hit Rahman for a long boring 12 round fight. Everyone thought Fres Oquendo would beat Ruiz and Ruiz hugged, tugged and hit Oquendo in one of the most worst heavyweight fights off all time. Everyone thought Andrew Golota would beat Ruiz. While Golota initially had control, he allowed himself to be drawn into the game of Ruiz as Johnny Boy hugged, tugged and hit Golota to squeak out a disputed decision after 12 rounds. The point I'm trying to make is that fans should not get their hopes up about James Toney beating John Ruiz.
Toney has fought 3 times in over two years, his level of inactivity will definitely come into play. The question also lingering is whether Toney will be 100%. Ever since Toney transformed into a muscle-bound heavyweight, his body seems to be breaking down with big injuries.
I think the potential war of words between Norman Stone and James Toney is more then enough to put this fight together.
