Ruelases’ Long Weekend Ends in Short Night in Las Vegas

It could not have been a worse night for the Ruelases: father Rafael, mother Concepcion and 12 of the 13 children born into poverty on a ranch in Jalisco, Mexico.

They came to Las Vegas on Cinco de Mayo weekend, hoping to continue this fantasy ride of Gabriel and Rafael, the brilliant boxing brothers.

Yet, in the end Saturday, they could not cheer Gabriel’s victory or prevent Rafael’s defeat at Caesars Palace.

Gabriel, fighting on the undercard, was supposed to get the night rolling by defending his World Boxing Council junior-lightweight title against Colombia’s Jimmy Garcia.

Before the fight, in a statement he would gladly retract, Gabe said Garcia was “going to have to pay for keeping me away from my wife and son for seven weeks.”

Garcia paid. Ruelas had won every round on two judges’ scorecards until the 11th, when referee Mitch Halpern stopped the fight at 25 seconds into the round after Gabe connected on his 300th punch.

Then, Garcia slumped on his stool, lapsed into unconsciousness and was carried off by stretcher to University Medical Center, where he would undergo brain surgery.

Garcia, from Colombia, was being operated on about the time Rafael Ruelas stepped into the ring against Oscar De La Hoya.

Gabe, who believed he fought poorly because he was so nervous about his brother’s fight, wasn’t told Garcia was in critical condition until just before Rafael’s fight.

“I didn’t even know,” Gabe said. “Someone told me he was at the hospital. I’m still. . . .”

He was briefly at a loss for words.

“I’d rather lose than have something happen to a guy like that,” he said, upon recovering his speech. “You can always come back from a loss. But with that, you never know.”

Gabe said his first stop today would be University Medical Center.

“I’ll see him (Garcia) before I leave,” he said.

The fight was Rafael’s worst nightmare. His plan was to attack De La Hoya from the outset, cut off the ring, stay inside and not allow his opponent to extend his arms.

Ruelas came out fast--perhaps too fast--hoping to catch De La Hoya early.

It was the other way around.

“I knew he was fast and strong. I was aware of that,” Ruelas said. “I wanted to catch him clean before he did (catch me).”

Instead, after surviving the first round, Ruelas got caught flush with a left hook and dropped to the canvas. It was the beginning of the end. If referee Richard Steele called it early at 1:43 of the second round, maybe he was thinking of Garcia.

Few argued with the decision.

In hindsight, Ruelas might regret pressing the action so quickly. Most thought he stood a chance if he could work De La Hoya into the later rounds.

“I think I got a little carried away,” Ruelas said. “I should have shot straight down the middle.”

Trainer Joe Goossen said he thought it might end like this.

“There were never any secrets,” he said. “We knew what he was going to do, and he knew what we were going to do. He sprung that left hook before we got ours in.”

Ruelas, who suffered his second defeat, is hoping to get a piece of his title back with a fight against World Boxing Assn. lightweight champion Olzubek Nazarov, from Russia.

Even in defeat lies a promotion, as there is already talk about Gabriel possibly fighting De La Hoya.

“Who knows?” Arum said. “Maybe he (Gabe) will seek the revenge for what happened tonight.”

Maybe De La Hoya hasn’t seen the last of the Ruelases.

“I wouldn’t mind fighting Oscar,” Gabe said. “But the people have to want the fight. My job is to beat anyone they put in front of me.”