Roy Jones Jr. Captures Piece Of History

By Bill Calogero
www.TheDailySports.com

02.03 - Las Vegas - Undisputed World Light Heavyweight Champion Roy Jones Jr. added another belt to his collection with a 12-round unanimous decision over John Ruiz to win the WBA World Heavyweight Title last night, broadcast live on HBO PPV at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

Being only the second Light Heavyweight to accomplish the distinction of becoming a World Heavyweight Champion, Roy Jones Jr. did exactly what he had to do against the much bigger John Ruiz.

Jones put on a boxing show by putting a good old fashion ass whipping on John Ruiz. His much superior hand speed, accuracy, movement and overall ring savvy resulted in what became a lopsided match-up.

Jones was able to land several solid shots to Ruiz's head and body during the 12-round bout. His uppercut seemed to tag Ruiz at will. Jones was able to use his normally seldom-used jab as a major part of his offensive attack.

By using his jab, Jones was able to keep Ruiz in the center of the ring and basically smack him around for 12 rounds. He landed several punches at a time and then was able to move away from any type of counter attack by Ruiz.

It was clear that Jones stunned Ruiz several times during the fight, but he did not appear "ready to go" at any point. Judging by the looks of Ruiz after the fight, simply put, he took a serious beating.

Ruiz did seem successful in "bullying" Jones by getting him in the corner and working his body, but only did it for three rounds. This was simply not enough to win this fight. His corner may have added to his destruction by making excuses and complaining about referee Jay Nady, who is certainly no stranger to the ring, between rounds, which in my opinion, added to the loss of concentration Ruiz demonstrated.

The judges at ringside scored the fight 116-112, 117-111 and 118-110 all in favor of Jones. TheDailySports.com scored the fight 118-111 also in favor of Jones.

Jones, who improves to 48-1 (38 KOs), now may consider a match against IBF titleholder, Chris Byrd. Byrd is the closest in size to Jones and would appear to be Jones' best chance at another belt.

In the Co-Feature, Fres Oquendo improves to 24-1 (15 KOs) with a tenth round KO over Maurice Harris.

In what seemed to start out like Oquendo's night, suddenly took a huge turn after Harris hit the canvas in the 4th round. From that point on, Harris took control of the fight. Fres looked tired and was in serious jeopardy of losing, when a devastating left hook followed by a powerful chopping right hand combo sent Harris down and out at 2:12 of the tenth.

Harris drops to 19-13-2 (10 KOs).

In other action, Winky Wright retained his IBF Jr. Middleweight Title with a unanimous 12-round decision over JC Candelo in what was nothing more than a "punch-fest" battle.

What a fight! Can you say "Punches In Bunches"? There were over two thousand total punches thrown in this fight. It was a great bout, which showcased two warriors with heart, determination, and skill who both came in great shape ready to fight.

Two of the judges scored the fight 117-111, while the third had it 118-110, all in favor of Wright. TheDailySports.com had it much closer at 115-113, but also had Wright coming out on top.

Wright improves to 45-3 (25 KOs), while Candelo drops to 25-5-3 (17 KOs). I can't see Wright giving this kid a rematch. It would be much too dangerous for him considering the fact his main goal is De La Hoya. Risking a loss in the rematch, a Wright vs De La Hoya, Title unification bout would all but evaporate.

Vonda Ward retained her IBA Heavyweight Title with a 4-round split-decision win over Martha Salazar. One judge scored the fight 39-37 in favor of Salazar, while the other two had it 39-37 in favor of Ward, giving her the victory. TheDailySports.com did not score the bout.

Ward improves to 16-0 (14 KOs), while Salazar suffers her first pro defeat, dropping to 5-1.