John Ruiz is an American professional ex-boxer of Puerto Rican descent (nickname "Tikhonya"). His career lasted from 1992 to 2010. You will find more information about the boxer in the article.
Personal and sports biography
Born on January 4 in 1972 in the city of Mathewn (Massachusetts, USA). During his professional career, he defeated such great boxers as Hasim Rahman, Evander Holyfield, Thomas Williams and others.
From 2001 to 2005 he twice became the WBA heavyweight champion. He was the first Latino to achieve such success in this category. Also, John Ruiz (photo below, left) is the champion of North America according to the NABF (1997 to 1998) and NABA (1998-1999). His name and surname are immortalized in the Connecticut Boxing Hall of Fame. He gained great popularity among the boxing community due to his unique fighting style - “strike, clinch; hit, clinch. " The boxer is 188 centimeters tall, and his arm span is 198 cm.
Amateur career
In 1991, he competed in the light heavyweight at the World Championships in Sydney (Australia). Performance Results:
- defeated Mohamed Bengesmia (Algeria) PST (22-11);
- defeated Miodgar Radulovic (Yugoslavia) RSC-3;
- lost to Andrey Kurnyavka (Soviet Union) MTC (14-20).
In 1992, he competed at the Olympic Games in Worcester (USA). Unfortunately, he lost to his rival - Jeremy Williams (USA).
Ruiz's first fight with Evander Holyfield
After Lennox Lewis defeated Evander Holyfield in the fight for the WBA, WBC and IBF heavyweight titles in late 1999, the WBA ordered him to defend his title against John Ruiz. However, he refused. During the proceedings, it was decided that Lewis will automatically lose his WBA title, and Ruiz will fight with Evander Holyfield.
The battle took place on August 12, 2000. Holyfield defeated by unanimous decision. In this confrontation, Ruiz was considered an outsider according to bookmaker quotes. Despite this, according to many, he was closer to victory. Evander Holyfield, in turn, said that he agreed to hold a rematch without any extra problems.
Ruiz’s second and immediately third fight with Evander Holyfield
On March 3, 2001, a second duel between the boxers took place. Here Ruiz nicknamed "Silence" the whole battle was as a dominant. Holyfield constantly defended and clinched in response to the attacks of Ruiz. However, the "quiet" still managed to inflict a large number of accurate and clean panes, in connection with which Evander was on the verge of a knockout.
This time, John Ruiz won an unconditional victory on points and became the WBA champion. But again, a scandal unfolded around this battle, during which repeated allegations of dishonest judging came into force. As a result, both boxers agreed on the third rematch, which took place on December 15, 2001. There were no winners in the final standoff. After long negotiations and disagreements, the judges proclaimed a military draw.
Ruiz Confronts Hasim Rahman
In December 2003, a duel was held for the title of interim champion in the WBA heavyweight category. Two heavyweights met in the ring: John Ruiz and Hasim Rahman. Experts and critics admitted that the fight was, frankly, boring and tedious: boxers cautiously rushed to the attack and immediately entered the clinch at the first failure. However, John Ruiz won on points. Hasim Rahman, in turn, began to protest with a judicial verdict. In an interview after the fight, Rahman stated that he had dealt more clean hits, particularly jabs. At the end of his remark, the boxer added that Ruiz's face was pretty beaten.
John Ruiz Professional Biography: WBA Title Saga
Boxer's professional record: 44 wins (30 of which by knockouts), 1 draw (1 failed fight) and 9 defeats. Frustrated by criticism from the boxing press and fans, he announced his retirement after a second loss of the WBA title on April 30, 2005 (to James Toney). However, after 10 days, John Ruiz found out that the result of James Toney’s doping analysis was positive, and then he took his words back about ending his career. Due to the fact that James Toney did not pass the test for anabolic steroids, the WBA association retained the title for John Ruiz. After these events, “Silence” filed a lawsuit against Tony, claiming that he undermined his fame and boxing career.
On December 17, 2005, Ruiz lost his title for the third time in a duel against Russian boxer Nikolai Valuev. On August 30, 2008, a rematch for the vacant WBA heavyweight title was held. However, the American was defeated again.
