John Ruiz: Why is he underrated?

By Chaz Tremato

06.04 - John Ruiz, current WBA heavyweight champion is still asking himself why he gets no respect from the public. His own manager Norman Stone has addressed the public and pointed out names of people that bash Ruiz. Larry Merchant, Jim Lampley, and Max Kellerman are among the few. In my opinion I think Ruiz is a solid heavyweight who has not had a chance to show what he’s got. Yes he has fought an older Evander Holyfield but I think Evander has enough skill and heart to fight any top contender. But fighting older fighters is never a good situation. Like when Larry Holmes fought Ali. If Ali won Larry would be looked at as a joke but if Larry won he just beat an older fighter. That is why John must not fight Evander again because if he wins it does not amount to much.

Ruiz can beat other top contenders. There are many good skills he has like his jab, good right hand, his awkward style, and his accuracy. When he fights Kirk Johnson who is currently undefeated I think Ruiz will use his jab and his awkward style to his advantage and my prediction is a split decision for Ruiz. Many say Ruiz’s chin is shaky but if you watch the third fight in rounds three and four John was caught with hard left-hooks and uppercuts and stood on his feet fine. I got to feel for Ruiz cause he’s showed how much it means to him to be a heavyweight champion and I think if he beats Johnson he will go for a unification fight against Lewis or Tyson. I read an article that Ruiz was Lewis’s sparring partner and Ruiz had no problem figuring out Lewis and making him look pretty bad. I won’t make predictions for that fight but I have a lot of confidence in Ruiz and I think that after the Johnson fight they will give him much needed credit. Going back to Ruiz’s chin the Tua fiasco should not be an example for Ruiz’s chin. I don’t think there is any doubt that any heavyweight would have been KO’d if he was hit with a series of Tua left-hooks. Ruiz got caught early and couldn’t recover.

The next thing I want to touch up on is Ruiz’s punching power. So far he’s been known as a light puncher and well I must disagree with this. First piece of evidence is the fact he dropped the Iron Chinned Holyfield whose only been knocked down by Bert Cooper and Riddick Bowe. We might remember Tony Tucker, the only person to take Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis the distance. Between Tyson and Lewis he couldn’t be dropped but Ruiz dropped him three times in their fight a few years back. Ruiz has won many of his fights by knockout and many by early round knockouts. I think Ruiz has a strong punch not a killer punch like Lewis or Tyson but he is by no means a weak puncher. I know after this article is on the site I’m gonna catch some flack but I don’t care because Ruiz has showed that he is a decent heavyweight. When he beats Johnson I expect many people to change their minds about him but it’s up to Ruiz now to fight Johnson and other big name contenders so he can get the public to realize that he shouldn’t be regarded as a paper champion. The three fights with Holyfield were tough and he showed his display of heart by taking him the distance three times and winning two out the three because he was robbed in his first fight. The third was fight was close and I’d have to agree with a draw. Personally, I like the fact there is a Latino heavyweight champion because it is a huge accomplishment for him and the Latino community. All I can say is wait for May 25th as I hear HBO will be televising the fight as I will be going with the “Quiet Man” to win this fight