It’s Geez, Ruiz, as Holyfield Wins

How sad.

Evander Holyfield, the man who won his first heavyweight title by knocking out Buster Douglas, won his second by decision over Riddick Bowe, won his third by stopping Mike Tyson, had to win his record fourth Saturday night by struggling to a close, but unanimous decision over little-known John Ruiz at the Paris Las Vegas Casino Resort.

How sad.

This was the same Ruiz who was destroyed in only 19 seconds by David Tua. Against Holyfield, he might have hung on for 19 rounds if the World Boxing Assn. title fight had been scheduled for that long.

At 37, Holyfield (37-3-1, 25 knockouts) missed openings he once walked through, failed to connect on punches he once flattened people with and grabbed for survival in situations he once dominated, throwing Ruiz to the canvas twice and drawing warnings from referee Richard Steele.

How sad.

Judge Fernando Viso scored the fight 116-112 and judges Duane Ford and Dave Moretti each had it 114-113. The Times scored it 115-113 for Holyfield.

“This was definitely a hard fight,” Holyfield said. “I knew Ruiz was tough and would give it everything he had.”

When Holyfield was stymied by Lennox Lewis in their two fights, doing more holding than fighting, Holyfield blamed it on Lewis’ tough style.

But after Saturday fight, staged in front of a crowd of approximately 8,500, it appears that Holyfield must look in the mirror to see the cause of his recent struggles.

As eventually happens to every fighter, he has simply gotten old.

From the very beginning, the 28-year-old Ruiz, bidding to become the first Hispanic heavyweight champion, made it clear that, while he may be known as “The Quiet Man,” he would not go quietly against Holyfield.

In the third round, Ruiz (36-4, 27 knockouts) lost his early edge as walked into a solid right hand by Holyfield that staggered him, then took a straight left from Holyfield that left him reeling.

Ruiz desperately hung on as the final seconds of the round ticked off.

“He is an awkward fighter,” Holyfield said. “He leads with his head. . . . I hit him with hard punches [in the third round], but he fought a defensive fight.”

Ruiz came back in the fourth round and soon surged ahead in the scoring, requiring a late charge by Holyfield.

Ruiz was rocked by a left hand in the 11th round and appeared to be in serious trouble until he received a low blow from Holyfield that caused Steele to temporarily stop the bout, giving Ruiz time to recover.

In the 12th round, Holyfield bloodied Ruiz’s nose and was clearly dominant as the final bell sounded.

Holyfield won the last four rounds on two scorecards and three of the last four on the third card.

Ruiz didn’t see it that way.

“It was like a robbery without the gun,” Ruiz said. “I was very surprised at the decision. He threw everything he had at me. I’m surprised he didn’t throw his knee.

“I don’t know what fight the referees saw. It could have been the fight before or the fight after, but it wasn’t the Holyfield fight.”

Would Ruiz like a rematch?

“I’ll fight him tomorrow, yesterday or whenever. I’ll fight him on the street. He knows what happened.

“They came to watch Holyfield and never gave me a chance from the beginning. They wanted to see the history of a fourth title.”

Holyfield and Muhammad Ali were the only men to win the heavyweight championship three times. Now that he stands alone, it might be a good time for Holyfield to retire.

Forget it.

“I am not going anywhere,” he said. “I’ll fight Lennox or Mike Tyson if those fights can be made. If they are in a position [holding a title], I’ll fight anybody.

“I am very happy to be the first four-time world heavyweight champion, but this is just the first step. My goal is to become undisputed heavyweight champion again. I’ll fight until I win it.”

How sad.

The semi-main event, a fight for the vacant WBA light flyweight championship, turned into a battle of low blows.

Referee Mitch Halpern handed out the final blow to Rosendo Alvarez, disqualifying him for a low blow at 1:02 of the seventh round, giving Beibis Mendoza the title.

Alvarez (27-2-1, 17) had already lost points in the second and third rounds for low blows and had been warned on several other occasions. Mendoza (26-0, 22) was also warned twice.

In a women’s bout, Christy Martin (40-2-2, 30) won a unanimous 10-round decision over Diana Lewis (9-2-1, 9).