Boxer John Ruiz: American heavyweight fights

John Ruiz - American professional ex-boxer of Puerto Rican origin (nickname "Tikhon"). His career lasted from 1992 to 2010. More information about the boxer can be found in the article.

Personal and sports biography

Born January 4 in 1972 in the city of Matuen (Massachusetts, USA). During his professional career, he won such great boxers as Hasim Rahman, Evander Holivifold, Thomas Williams, and others.

From 2001 to 2005 He twice became a WBA heavyweight champion. He was the first Latin American who achieved such success in this category. Also John Ruiz (photo below, left) is the North American champion according to NABF (1997 to 1998) and NABA (1998-1999). His name and surname are immortalized in the Kentiktikutsk hall of boxing glory. He gained great popularity among the boxing public due to his unique style of fighting - "hit, clinch; Stroke, clinch. " The height of the boxer is 188 centimeters, and the range of the arms is 198 cm.

Amateur career

In 1991, he competed in light heavyweight at the World Championships in Sydney (Australia). The results of the speeches:

• Defeated Mohamed Bengesmia (Algeria) PST (22-11);
• Defeated Miodgar Radulovic (Yugoslavia) RSC-3;
• Lost to Andrei Kurnyavka (Soviet Union) MTC (14-20).

In 1992 he competed at the Olympic Games in Worcester (USA). Unfortunately, he lost to his rival - Jeremy Williams (USA).

Ruiz's first fight with Evander Holyfield

After Lennox Lewis defeated Evander Holyfield in the fight for the WBA, WBC and IBF heavyweight title at the end of 1999, the WBA association ordered him to defend his title against John Ruiz. However, he refused. During the proceedings it was decided that Lewis automatically loses his WBA title, and Ruiz will fight with Evander Holyfield.

August 12, 2000 the battle took place. Holyfield won the unanimous decision. In this confrontation, Ruiz, according to the bookmakers' quotes, was considered an outsider. Despite this, according to many, he was closer to victory. Evander Holyfield, in turn, said that without unnecessary problems I agree to hold a rematch.

Second and immediately third Ruiz fight with Evander Holyfield

On March 3, 2001, a repeated duel took place between the boxers. Here, Ruiz, nicknamed "quiet", the entire battle was a dominant. Holyfield was constantly defended and clinched in response to Ruiz's attacks. However, the "quiet" still managed to inflict a large number of accurate and clean panels, and therefore Evander was on the verge of knockout.

This time John Ruiz won an unconditional victory on points and became the WBA champion. But again, a scandal developed around this fight, during which repeated accusations of unfair judging came into force. As a result, both fighters agreed on the third rematch, which took place on December 15, 2001. In the final standoff, the winners were not found. After long negotiations and disagreements, the judges declared a fighting draw.

Confrontation Ruiz with Hasim Rahman

In December 2003, a duel for the title of temporary champion for the WBA version in the heavyweight division was held. Two heavyweights met in the ring: John Ruiz and Hasim Rahman. Experts and critics admitted that the fight was, frankly, boring and tedious: the boxers with caution rushed into the attack and at the first failure immediately went into clinch. Nevertheless, the victory on points scored John Ruiz. Hasim Rahman, in turn, began to protest with a judicial verdict. In an interview after the battle, Rahman said that he dealt more clean blows, in particular jabs. At the end of his retort, the boxer added that Ruiz's face was badly beaten.

Professional biography of John Ruiz: epic for the WBA title

Professional boxer record: 44 wins (30 of which are knockouts), 1 draw (1 failed battle) and 9 defeats. Frustrated by criticism from the boxing press and fans, he announced his retirement after the second WBA title loss on April 30, 2005 (to James Toney). However, after 10 days, John Ruiz learned that the result of the analysis of James Toney for doping was positive, and then took his words to the account of the completion of his career back. Due to the fact that James Toney did not pass the test for anabolic steroids, the WBA association retained the title after John Ruiz. After these events, "quiet" filed a lawsuit against Tony, claiming that he undermined his fame and boxing career.

December 17, 2005 Ruiz lost his title for the third time in a duel against the Russian boxer Nikolai Valuev. On August 30, 2008, a rematch took place for the vacant WBA heavyweight title. However, the American was again defeated.

Completion of career

After the defeat of David Haye, John Ruiz announced his retirement from the big sport after an 18-year career. In 2013, he opened his gym called Quietman Sports Gym in Medford, Massachusetts, in which he and other specialists teach several martial disciplines (box, MMA) for all age categories. Ruiz has repeatedly stated that he wants to return to boxing, but as a manager or coach. In 2014, boxing.com boxer John Ruiz was added to the list of "100 greatest heavyweight boxers of all time", where he takes the 83rd line.