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Punch Out By Patryk Fournier March 3, 2003

	An entourage member's dream.

Roy Jones Jr. vs. John Ruiz for the WBA Heavyweight title. The fight had enough promotion behind it that even the most casual boxing fan was interested in the outcome. A former middleweight champion, current light heavyweight champion and the best pound for pound boxer versus a good but not great heavyweight champion who holds a win and draw over Evander Holyfield as his biggest claim to fame. Not since Michael Spinks beat Larry Holmes had a light heavyweight ever successfully beaten a heavyweight. The challenge was set for Roy Jones Jr.; a fighter who for much of his career failed to find an opponent who presented a true test and legitimate challenge.That challenge was finally presented to Roy by the help of none other than Don King. Only in America!

	Boxing isn't all about the violence. There's room for love.

The charter flight to Las Vegas stalled on the tarmac so instead I caught the fight with Lisa at Local Heroes, a sports bar. There was an odd mix of people at the bar, hockey fans, boxing fans and patrons for a stag party. Something tells me that booking a stag party on the night of a big boxing match was not the greatest decision, but it did make it interesting. I did find one thing strangely disturbing and that was seeing my old high school Religion teacher pounding back brews and chatting up the ladies. Isn't that some kind of moral dilemma? Shouldn't you practice what you preach? (Wait that was lame, strike that one.) The fight wasn't on for a few hours so we got our fill of under card matches and beers. Lisa isn't quite the same boxing fan I am so she had her own observations. She asked questions like: Why do the boxers hug all the time? Is it to show the other fighter that they still care about them and really don't hate them? She then started wondering what music she would use to enter the ring if she was a boxer (Boyz II Men) and what friends she would bring into the ring. She also asked, when did boxers start using white gloves? I didn't really have an answer for these questions I just treated them like they were rhetorical.

I was disappointed that the bar wasn't showing the HBO broadcast of the fight because this meant I was going to miss out on seeing George Foreman's endless smile, the one that looks like someone promised him a free steak dinner after the match. Or Harold Lederman's endless yelling into the microphone like he doesn't understand the concept that he can talk naturally into it. And of course I missed the chance of seeing Larry Merchant's post-fight interview with both boxers. Is there anything better than watching a post-fight interview after a guy has been annihilated for 12 rounds? Post-fight interviews have produced some great quotes and sound bytes especially when Mike Tyson's involved. Instead of all this we were subjected to listen to Lennox Lewis and some guy who looks like Paul Bearer.

Time to get to the fight. Jones Jr. came to the ring first, complete with his own rapper singing his intro music. This is obviously a new trend as it's hard to imagine seeing Jake Lamotta walk down to ringside complete with an Italian singer serenading the crowd. Ruiz was next and he didn't walk or strut down to the ring. Instead he skipped down to ringside. Ruiz's entrance was also complete with guys dressed in fatigues making it look like Ruiz's entourage was made up of former Navy Seals. Quick Note: When Roy Jones got introduced virtually the whole bar started cheering. When John Ruiz got introduced two guys in the bar started cheering. Apparently Ruiz has relatives in Ottawa.

	The definition of getting Ruized.

The fight began and the first two rounds were fairly even. Ruiz was able to land some shots and Roy responded with some quick jabs and hooks. After those early rounds the fight was all Roy Jones Jr. He absolutely dominated Ruiz by standing right in front of him and firing a quick assault of punches. Ruiz's only response was to repeatedly push Jones against the ropes and attempt to out muscle him by leaning on him and attempting to catch him with a solid punch. In between rounds we were shown contrasts of the two fighters. Roy's corner was very relaxed; Roy drank water and his face looked unblemished. Roy even took time to flash a smile at the Round Card Girls. It looked like Roy was already planning out his post-fight party schedule. Meanwhile Ruiz's corner was feverishly working on reconstructing his face and attempting to make his face look like something other than ground beef. Jones continued to assault Ruiz in the later rounds with his tremendous array of punches and proved that not only was he the better boxer but the better strategist. The closing rounds finished with Roy showing off his cocky nature by raising his arms in victory with 10 seconds left in the 12th and final round, something I'm sure Ruiz didn't appreciate. The fight ended with a unanimous decision in favour of the new WBA Heavyweight Champion of the world……..ROY JONES JR!

	He wasn't smiling for long.

One thing this title win guarantees is that another member of Jones Jr.'s entourage will have an designated task, to carry and flaunt the WBA Heavyweight belt. After watching this match I have come up with a new adjective. Whenever someone gets outclassed, embarrassed, beaten and destroyed we can say they got "Ruized". For example if the Ottawa Senators beat the Tampa Bay Lighting 10-0 you would say, "The Lighting really got Ruized tonight". Funniest quote from the entire evening came from Ruiz after the match: "How can I give him (Jones) any credit when the referee wouldn't let me fight my fight?'' Yes, the referee made you stand still and absorb punch after punch.

As for Roy his future is full of many options. The two biggest possibilities are fighting Chris Byrd, the current IBF Heavyweight champion or Evander Holyfield, which would simply be a big name that would give Roy a big pay day.