Boxing

 

Jones-Ruiz: The Contest Of Contrasts

Janne Romppainen

26.02 - The fight that is fast approaching is one of the most intriguing and anticipated boxing matches in recent history. How do you know that? Because boxing boards and magazines are full of articles about it. Because all the forums are full of predictions and expectations about the outcome, everybody has to have an opinion. And first and foremost, because everybody is an expert, everybody is certain that their favourite is going to be the winner. I’ll play along.

There is much in a line in the 1st of March. Can a former middleweight champion become a heavyweight titlist again after more than one hundred years? Will Roy Jones join Michael Spinks as only the second light-heavyweight king that captures the heavyweight crown? Is John Ruiz the one that stops Jones’ march from victory to another. And who will be the WBA champion after the weekend (well, on a second though, forget about the last one).

There are many different dimensions in the fight. But the thing that creates the real excitement is the collision of the contrasts that we are going to see. Size faces skill, reach faces speed and a mega-star faces a relatively unknown champion. We wait the fight so eagerly because we don’t know what to wait from it. We have never seen either of the gladiators face anybody quite like their upcoming opponents, so making a prediction is somewhat impossible. But let’s first consider what we do know.

We know that the advantage in size goes for Ruiz. At 6’2 he stands about three inches taller than Jones and with his 78 inch reach he has a four-inch advantage in that department. We don’t know the fighters’ actual weights but presumably Ruiz carries about 40lbs more mass. There is no scale to measure speed or skill, but on those accounts every expert will surely agree that Jones is way above the champion. Also his experience from the big fights is much greater.

The facts are about there. Nothing much in them. Both have clear strengths and weaknesses, the one who can employ them better will win. The question is: which one can take the most benefit out of them, i.e. who will find the right tactic to get the victory. That is the thing that in my opinion will decide everything.

When the size and speed differences are as huge as they are in this case, the basic plan looks quite simple. Jones wants to stay outside, Ruiz will control the action at close quarters. Is Ruiz able to force the fight inside and is Jones able to hold his own there also?

Although he doesn’t get too much credit, Ruiz is a good inside fighter. He can be dull and ugly, but he is nevertheless effective. The one-round blowout against David Tua aside, Ruiz has demonstrated that he is a tough nut to crack for anyone. He went total of 36 rounds against Evander Holyfield without succumbing. In contrary, he even floored Holyfield in their second fight, which shows that Ruiz does indeed have some power. He also holds victories over notable names such as Kirk Johnson, Tony Tucker and James Thunder. As a matter of fact, Ruiz has only lost badly to Tua. All his other losses, against Holyfield, Danell Nicholson and Sergei Kobozev have been very close, if not controversial. Both Nicholson and Kobozev are known as skilful boxers, which could mean that Ruiz will have problems against Jones. However, Kirk Johnson is better than either of them and Ruiz was in front on the scorecards before Johnson was thrown out from the fight because of repeated low blows. The Quiet Man seldom fights pretty, but which is more important, he seldom loses.

Jones on the other hand has virtually no weaknesses. He has fought a variety of different kinds of fighters and usually won without much problem. His movement has been too much for the biggest punchers and his speed has shredded the sluggers. In fact, if Jones has ever faced trouble, it has been against another skilful fighters. Bernard Hopkins, Montell Griffin and Eric Harding were able to frustrate Jones momentarily. Jones has always had his way with power punchers. Maybe Ruiz is just a big, slow-moving target that Jones can pick apart as he has used to do. Ruiz has the reach to compete with Jones’ movement but it is nothing Jones hadn’t seen before. Julio Gonzales was equally tall but couldn’t harm Jones at all. If Ruiz swings air for six rounds, he might become frustrated and Jones could cruise his way to the victory, maybe even stop his fellow late.

If the fight goes to the inside, it’s hard to see how Jones could survive this time however. He has his speedy punching, but I doubt that will stop Ruiz. Sure, the kind of body shot that stopped Virgil Hill also hurts a bigger man, but Jones shouldn’t count on that. Ruiz’ inside techniques are actually nightmarish for smaller man. He is not the biggest puncher, but he grabs, wrestles and hangs very effectively. That takes the movement out from the bigger men, so a light-heavyweight with thin legs is sure to grow tired if Ruiz is able to employ the strategy. Jones is known for slipping punches and blocking them with his arms and shoulders. However, even blocking a heavyweight punch hurts, so he’d better stay away. Jones seems to have a good chin, but it has never been tested like it will be on Saturday.

In his recent interviews Ruiz has told us that he will come in the ring light, weighing only about 220lbs (compared to the former 235lbs). By this he wants to improve his movement to be able to box with Jones. Personally I don’t think it is a wise thing to do. He won’t be able to run with Jones no matter what, so I think he should try to remain the strengths he has (weight being one of them) and trying to employ them.

Some have said that it is a no-win situation for Ruiz. Even if he does win, he has only beaten a light-heavyweight. I don’t agree. He is not fighting just a light-heavy, he is facing Roy Jones. Jones’ name will look good on anybody’s record. Actually Jones might have even more to lose than Ruiz does. If he wins, he still hasn’t beaten the real champion but only a WBA-titleholder. And if he loses, his image is tarnished, he is no more the invincible Roy Jones that he has been.

As I mentioned earlier, predicting in this kind of instances is nearly impossible, which makes it even more fun. We don’t know how Jones reacts to a heavyweight punch. We don’t know if his punch has an effect on Ruiz. Will Ruiz ever land a glove on Jones? We just have to wait and see. My prediction for the fight is that eventually the size will tell. Jones will probably lead on points early, but as the fight progresses, Ruiz is able to make him tire more and more and eventually he will be able to turn the things around. I see Jones being stopped about at ninth round. I won’t recommend betting for anybody though.

Comments/questions: janneromppainen@hotmail.com

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