08.11.05 – By Michael Youssef: John Ruiz recently announced that Vitali Klitschko should have his heart checked, and that HBO and anybody else who believes Klitschko is the best heavyweight in the world should be ashamed of themselves. He later stated that Klitschko is the reason a heavyweight tournament has not taken place, and that if it ever did, he (Ruiz) would come out as the eventual winner, and real heavyweight champion.
Pause. Done laughing yet? Ok, now that both you and I have recomposed ourselves, I’d like to write a two word message directly to John Ruiz, in hopes that both he and his rowdy manager Norman Stone catch wind. Here goes: to you, Mr. WBA ‘heavyweight champion’…Nineteen Seconds.
That’s right, nineteen seconds. That is faster than it takes the average person to write their home address. Nineteen seconds is faster than it takes for most people to go to the bathroom. It is in fact quicker than a speeding bullet, and goes faster than even Superman could leaping over a tall building. It is also the amount of time it took David Tua to knock John Ruiz stupid, a punch he obviously has yet to recover from.
Boxing fans, friends, John Ruiz is not a ‘real’ champion, in my opinion. In fact, from my perspective, Ruiz arguably lost his fight with Golota, and did lose his last fight against James Toney, only to be given the WBA trinket right back when Toney tested positive for steroids. By the way, raise your hand if you believe James Toney would have lost to John Ruiz if he had not been on prescription prescribed medication to help accelerate tissue growth in his arm. I am looking here, and see no hands. Thought so.
John Ruiz, who is now questioning Vitali Klitschko’s heart just because he sustained an unfortunate injury, is himself doing some fighting, but not in a boxing ring. Ruiz is suing fellow heavyweight and former conqueror James Toney for 10 million dollars; because Ruiz alleges his reputation was damaged as a result of his fight against Toney earlier this year. This is news to me, I was under the impression his reputation was damaged when David Tua landed a left hook nineteen seconds into their bout on HBO years ago. To me, Ruiz should not be questioning the heart of other fighters, when it is his own heart that seems to so misguided.