Toney vs. Ruiz Is a Fight for Title, Attention

Take James Toney, who tells anybody who will listen -- and even those who won’t -- that he’s the best fighter in the world.

Add trainer Norm Stone, who loves to get in Toney’s face and explain to him in menacing detail what will happen to Toney tonight when he steps into the ring at Madison Square Garden to challenge Stone’s fighter, World Boxing Assn. heavyweight champion John Ruiz.

Complete this loud and volatile mix with promoter Don King, who can make the most mundane of fight shows sound like the Thrilla in Manila.

Who could resist such a formidable trio of trash talkers?

Most of New York, as it turns out. The city that never sleeps appears to have slumbered through Wednesday’s news conference, Thursday’s weigh-in and all the commercials and ads promoting tonight’s fight. Friday’s New York Times did not include a mention of the match. As of 48 hours before fight time, fewer than half of the Garden’s 15,000 seats had been sold.

King has said those who don’t buy tickets to tonight’s fight will be “the losers.”

Said Dan Goossen, Toney’s promoter, “The situation is not as negative as Don paints it. When everything is said and done, there will be 12,000 fans in the seats.”

Even if some of them get in free. King has vowed to give unsold tickets to workers who were involved in the rescue effort after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Part of the problem is that this was originally supposed to be a title defense by World Boxing Council champion Vitali Klitschko against Hasim Rahman. When Klitschko had to cancel because of an injury, Ruiz-Toney was hurriedly plugged in.

“With only 4 1/2 weeks to promote, we were obviously behind the 8-ball,” Goossen said. “But after Saturday night, there is not an arena in this country that James Toney won’t be able to fill. This shows you why we need charisma back in the heavyweight division.”

Which gets to the major reason why tonight’s fight has been a tough sell: Ruiz. His record, 41-5-1, 28 knockouts, looks good. His credentials, two-time heavyweight champion, look good. Not so good: Ruiz lost his title to Roy Jones, who came up from the middleweight ranks, a course Toney is trying to emulate. Ruiz got the title back only when Jones relinquished it.

Then there’s Ruiz’s boxing style. He doesn’t have any, relying on a game plan that involves more wrestling and holding than boxing.

Toney (68-4-2, 43), who at 36 is three years ago older than Ruiz, will be trying to add a heavyweight title to the middleweight, super-middleweight and cruiserweight championships he has already won. His previous heavyweight ventures have been successful but questionable. He beat Evander Holyfield, who was embarrassingly past his prime, and Rydell Booker, who was just plain embarrassing.

After recovering from a ruptured left Achilles tendon suffered early last year, Toney tore his left biceps in the Booker fight in September. Toney insists he’s healed.

As if anybody here cares.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

*--* Main Event * Who: John Ruiz vs. James Toney. * What: WBA heavyweight championship bout, 12 rounds. * When: Tonight, 7 (HBO). * Where: Madison Square Garden. TALE OF THE TAPE RUIZ TONEY 33 Age 36 41-5-1 Record 68-4-2 28 Knockouts 43 6-2 Height 5-11 241 Weight 232 78 Reach (inches) 76

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