John Ruiz goes quietly into retirement
The boxing world was whispered a goodbye from “The Quiet Man” yesterday, as former WBA heavyweight champion John Ruiz called time on a career that spanned 18 years.
For some reason Ruiz never got the recognition he deserved. Despite being as American as McDonalds, US fight fans never really took to him. Some put it down to his Latino roots, what with Ruiz’s parentage lying in Puerto Rico, but they worshiped Oscar Del La Hoya, who had a similar background. Also it’s not like the Puerto Rican’s were claiming him either, poor old Ruiz was a nomad of the boxing community.
Perhaps it was down to his style; Ruiz made no apology for the fact that he was an all-out brawler. He was known for clinching, jabbing and being a very awkward customer. A big bustling bruiser, Ruiz was an old-fashioned fighter, almost a throwback to the past, the sort you’d see in films set during prohibition era America. His foot work left a lot to be desired, he wasn’t exactly from the Muhammad Ali school of heavyweights, preferring to shuffle around the ring as if he had titanium toes.
However it worked for him, he retired with a record of 44 wins including 30 KO’s and just nine defeats, one draw and a no contest. Four of his nine defeats came in his last seven fights and he lost to fighters the calibre of Roy Jones Jnr, Evander Holyfield, David Tua and most lately David Haye.
In fact prior to Haye’s TKO victory earlier this month, Ruiz had only been stopped once before. That actually occurred in comedy fashion against Tua. The Quiet Man came sprinting out of his corner on the bell, unfortunately for him so did the big Samoan, who dropped the onrushing Ruiz within a minute.
That was a minor setback on the rollercoaster ride which was the Massachusetts fighter’s career. He will be best remembered for his epic trilogy against Evander Holyfield in which he lost, won and drew against “The Real Deal” claiming the WBA belt in the second fight. These were the years Ruiz was in his prime. He defended his title with a draw against Holyfield before defeating Kirk Johnson then losing it to a beefed-up Jones Jnr.
Unfortunately Ruiz took a bit of a hiding in that bout. The Quiet Man never quite got the hang of hand-speed and former light-middleweight Jones Jnr’s mitts went so swift they had Ruiz utterly befuddled and spinning in circles.
Luckily “RJJ” didn’t fancy being heavyweight champion and immediately retired, so Ruiz merrily took the belt back. He defended it three times in impressive fashion, before losing it to James “Lights Out” Toney.
This marked the end for hapless Ruiz who was sick of a lack of recognition and he promptly retired. However 10 days later Toney tested positive for banned steroids, so Ruiz unretired. Once more he was world champion after a defeat.
He eventually lost his belt to Nicolay Valuev in a battle of the bumbling giants. Ruiz had one more crack at claiming back his beloved WBA strap against Haye earlier this month, losing with a ninth round TKO following a brave and spirited performance.
So Ruiz can reflect on a hard-worked career with pride. He was heavyweight champion of the world, granted during a poor period in the division’s history, but you can only beat what’s in front of you. He scored victories over fighters like Holyfield, Andrew Golota, Hasim Rahmen and Tony Tucker competing at the highest level for the majority of his career and fighting in 12 world championship fights.
He has been criticised in some quarters for having a lack of charisma, Haye described him as “a cure for insomnia”. That might have been a bit harsh, he always seems like a pleasant enough fellow, not all boxing has to be watered-down Ali-berating all the time. In fact Haye must have seen that in the end as he stopped trash-talking Ruiz in the build up to their fight and treated him with a bit more respect.
Perhaps if he had been a bit louder more Americans would have hooked on to him, but Ruiz has always just concentrated on being a top boxer. He didn’t engage in showboating and trash-talking, he was just a nice honest guy and an honest fighter.
Announcing his retirement Ruiz said, "I fought anybody who got in the ring with me and never ducked anyone. Now, I'm looking forward to spending more time with my family.
"With my experiences in boxing, I want to go home and open a gym where kids will have a place to go, keeping them off of the streets, so they can learn how to box and build character.
"Someday, I'd like to see one of them go on to represent the United States in the Olympics. I want them to have the same opportunity to see the world that I had as an amateur.
Enjoy your retirement Quiet Man.
You earned it.
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