Boxing

 

And the winner is...John Ruiz!

By Ben Pierce

29.07 - No boxing fans, I am not speaking of last nights fight between John Ruiz and Kirk Johnson, but instead the possible Emmy nomination Ruiz should receive for the Best Actor in a Sporting Event.

John Ruiz jabbed, held, fouled and put on a pretty good acting job on his way to another win and another defense of his WBA Heavyweight title. This one by way of disqualification over a game, but rusty Kirk Johnson. Ruiz improved his record to 38-4-1, while Johnson suffered his first defeat and fell to 32-1-1.

In a bout that looked more like a wrestling match, than a boxing match, Ruiz once again won without beating his opponent.

All but one, the first of the low blows called by referee Joe Cortez, were marginal and borderline. Replays clearly showed the punches to be on the lower beltline and to the right. Yes these punches hurt, but they are not illegal. I think the referee called them more by the reaction of Ruiz, than of him actually seeing the blows land.

But lets give the referee some consideration, there is no harder fight to be the third man in the ring, than a John Ruiz fight. His style of boxing, if you want to call it boxing, is slow, sloppy and frustrating. The referee does not have the luxury of instant replay, and must make the call within seconds. My only question for Joe Cortez would be why he saw none of the many fouls of John Ruiz? In watching the fight I saw him hold excessively, punch while holding, try an intentional head butt, wrestle the other fighter to the ground and throw rabbit punches.

I personally do not care if a fight is called close and strictly by the book, or if the ref just lets them fight. All I look for is for the ref to be consistent in his calls. I do not believe this to be the case last night. Joe Cortez, a referee of great reputation, was either out of place in the ring for a large part of the fight or completely fooled by the tactics of Ruiz. If he was going to call the fight in a strict manner, he should have also called some of the many fouls committed by Ruiz.

If we look at other fights with low blows involved in the not so distant past, we can clearly say Cortez would have also disqualified Felix Trinidad in his fight with Fernando Vargas. Trinidad was called for hitting Vargas low three times in the first seven rounds. He surely would have disqualified Bernard Hopkins in his fight with Keith Holmes and in many of his other fights. But these fights went the distance and were decided in the ring.

This is just another example of why we need a National Boxing Commission. We need unified rules that are enforced on a consistent basis, by all referees. The fights, the judges, the referees and all involved would be reviewed and graded on each fight. With all the controversy surrounding so many fights of late, we need a commission more than ever to restore integrity to this sport we all love.

But once again John Ruiz escapes with his title intact, while never defeating his opponent. Maybe his foes should take a page from the David Tua fight. The only way to win a fight with this man is to knock him out, preferably in the first twenty seconds or so. If not, it will be a long and ugly fight.

And...once again I was not impressed with Ruiz. I don't think many around the boxing world could have been impressed with what they saw in the ring last night. I think we know who the real Heavyweight Champion is and his name is not John Ruiz.

Keep your hands up and keep reaching for the stars !

Questions/Comments: benp1000@msn.com

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