Analyzing John Ruiz, James Toney and Don King

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. details]