X-DoNotUse-Sports

Ruiz Decisions Holyfield

March 4, 2001 / 1:06 AM EST / AP

John Ruiz made Evander Holyfield look old, and made himself a heavyweight champion.

A bloodied Ruiz knocked Holyfield down in the 11th round Saturday night and had him hanging on for his fighting life en route to a unanimous 12-round decision that made him the WBA heavyweight champion.

Ruiz, a 2-1 underdog, screamed in delight as the decision of the three judges went his way, in contrast to the narrow decision loss he suffered when the two first met in August.

Ruiz was cut on the forehead and under both eyes but turned the fight around with a big right hand in the opening seconds of the 11th round that put Holyfield on the canvas.

Holyfield got to his feet, but was desperately grabbing onto Ruiz the rest of the round while taking a punishment.

Judge Stanley Christodoulou scored it 116-110, while Chuck Giampa had it 115-111 and Patricia Jarman-Manning had it 114-111. The Associated Press scored it 115-111.

The fight was ugly and filled with holding and clinching, but it was close going into the final rounds. Holyfield appeared to be getting the better of Ruiz in the ninth and 10th rounds but lost a point due to a low blow that sent Ruiz to the canvas in the 10th round.

Ruiz was on his back for a few minutes and given time to continue, but Holyfield was all over him the rest of the round and seemed to have the upper hand.

That changed seconds later, though, when Ruiz landed the right hand that turned the fight around.

"I know I beat him the first time, and this time I proved it," Ruiz said.

The 38-year-old Holyfield, who had won a portion of the heavyweight title for the fourth time in his first fight with Ruiz, looked every bit the aging fighter. He got into position but couldn't seem to throw his punches when it mattered.

He deflected any suggestion he should retire, however, even though he is 1-2-1 in his last four fights and could easily have been 0-4.

"I was a four-time champion, and now it looks like I have to become a five-time champion," Holyfield said.

Holyfield complained the punch that Ruiz claimed was low in the 10th round was not. But he said the right hand that Ruiz threw certainly was.

"He cracked me with a good shot, and I didn't see it coming," Holyfield said. "It's a fact of life you can get cracked with good shots."

It was the fifth straight fight for Holyfield that went the distance. After beating Mike Tyson for a second time in 1997, he followed it with an eighth-round knockout of Michael Moorer a few months later but has not stopped anyone since.

Ruiz was little more than a journeyman heavyweight before being given a chance to fight for the vacant title in August.

In that fight, Ruiz claimed he was robbed by the ringside judges, who scored it narrowly in Holyfield's favor. But he got the better decision this time around, despite having a busted-up face that looked as if it had been n several fights at once.

"The last two rounds were mine, and that's what brought me this," Ruiz said, pointing to the WBA heavyweight title belt around his waist.

Ruiz, who was born in Massachusetts but lived part of his childhood in Puerto Rico, became the first Hispanic heavyweight champion, although most in boxing recognize Lennox Lewis as the true heavyweight champion.

That didn't bother Ruiz after the win, though, when the "Quiet Man" sounded off.

"I came and got what I wanted," he said. "I wanted to stay on him and not let up."

Holyfield, who fell to 37-5-1, had said he would continue fighting to try to unify his title with the two that Lewis holds. That plan was set back, though, in a fight that was ugly and filled with holding and fouls but had the fans on their feet in the final rounds.

"It looks like I'm going to have to get back in line," Holyfield said.

Referee Joe Cortez had his hands full all night, separating fighters and trying to figure out who was fouled and when. After Holyfield threw the low blow that put Ruiz down, Ruiz retaliated with one of his own but was not penalized.

"That inspired me," Ruiz said. "I had to go out and get him back."

Holyfield, 217, earned $5 million for the fight, which drew a less- than-capacity crowd to the Mandalay Bay hotel-casino arena. Ruiz, 227 (37-4) was paid $1 million.

More importantly to Ruiz, though, it gave him a piece of the heavyweight title to defend for a bigger payday. Promoter Don King had promised the winner a title defense in China in June, although that is still up in the air.

"I'm just going to go home and rest and see my family," Ruiz said. "I want to celebrate for a while."