By Kevin “Kingpin” Johnson: John Ruiz? You’ve got to be kidding me. The worst man to ever hold a world title has the nerve to call me out? You’ve got to be joking. First off, in your entire career, you’ve never ever beaten anyone. Evander Holyfield, Chris Byrd, Fres Oquendo? Please tell me who you beat and I will leave you alone. And when you did step up to face some half decent competition like Valuev, James Toney and David Tua, who knocked you out in 20 seconds, you got your butt kicked. But being the tall dark and handsome people’s champ that I am, I’ll tell you what.. why don’t you step in for Monte Barrett, who pulled out of his fight with me scheduled for next Friday on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights, and I’ll kick your sorry butt all the way back to Puerto Rico..
You, Evander, James Toney and all of you fat over-the-hill losers need to get out of the game and leave it to the young lions such as myself and Arreola, and other young fighters with heart and class. But if you don’t, I’ll be glad to retire your punk-ass. If you are serious about stepping up to the plate to fight me, I`ll have my manager Brian Johnson call Tony and your promoter and we can do the damn thing tomorrow, the next day or the next day. I don’t give a damn. I’ll fight you on one day’s notice with one hand tied behind my back and one leg tied to the ropes. You couldn’t beat me on my worst night. You’ve been ducking me for years and now that you can’t get a fight becasue nobody wants to see your old butt, and you call me out?
Again, you’ve got to be joking.