News
Briefly
Calendar of Events
Commentary
Opinions
Sports
Diversions
World News
Login
Letter Submission
Search
Archive
Publishing Policy
Classifieds
Mail Subscriptions
St. Cloud State University
College Publisher
Home
>
Sports
Jones might have trouble in higher weight division
By Drew Herron
Published:
Thursday, February 27, 2003
The wait is nearly over.
Saturday night Roy Jones Jr. will finally move up and see how he can fare against the heavy hitters.
Most people believe that Jones, even at a beefed-up 190 pounds, will be too quick for the relatively slow, clumsy John Ruiz. Jones will dance, jab, he'll throw flurries of stinging combos to score points and stay on his toes to avoid Ruiz's heavy punches for 12 rounds.
The last thing Jones will want to do is let Ruiz bait him into a situation in which they lock up and stand and trade. Ruiz will probably be willing to take a lot of punishment in order for a chance to corner Jones and connect.
But if he does get sliced apart by the much more skilled Jones, Ruiz could get chippy. Ruiz (38-4-1) has the little sister WBA heavy weight belt and isn't a pretty fighter, but he's tough and has an excellent jab.
He has said he wants to slim down in this fight, possibly in the area of 225 pounds, but reports have indicated that he probably won't make that weight. It doesn't matter, Ruiz has all the statistical advantages.
He's four inches taller, has a seven inch reach advantage and will probably outweigh Jones by at least 30, but probably closer to 50 pounds.
Never before has Jones fought an opponent who can punch as hard as Ruiz or take that level of punishment. He has remarkable stamina. He stood there and fought Evander Holyfield for 36 hard fought rounds, resulting in a win, a loss and a draw.
Jones has nothing power-wise on Holyfield. Ruiz wants Jones so badly that he's entering this fight with an un-guaranteed contract.
For everything Jones gives away in size, he more than makes up for in heart and skill. For the last five or six years he has dominated his weight class, eliminating any serious competition, but has refused to seriously consider moving up until now.
Jones possesses probably the best hand speed of any fighter of any era. He's much more of a pure fighter than Ruiz, and Jones will definitely want to avoid contact inside and clutching and grabbing.
Ruiz will want to slow Jones down. Jones is much more skilled than Kirk "Low Blow" Johnson. Jones, who usually weighs around 178, has said he will put on at least 10 pounds for this fight, but many experts wonder, 'what's the point?'
He's had trouble gaining weight in the past and 10 extra pounds could make him slightly slower. If it's not broke, don't fix it. But those 10 pounds could be invaluable to him strength-wise when he'll have to take the kind of punches Ruiz delivers.
No matter what kind of shape he's in, Jones probably won't drop Ruiz. He won't be able to, nor does he want to, get inside because Ruiz is just too big.
Jones' superior technique will allow him to drop combos and stick and move with relative ease on the slower Ruiz, and that's what he'll have to do all night. He can't just go in there and put forth a nice effort, Jones has to beat Ruiz because Ruiz has the belt, and you have to take it from the champ.
Noticeably take it.
If Jones beats Ruiz and wins the WBA Heavyweight belt, it will be only the second time in history that a light heavyweight has won the belt. In 1985, Michael Spinks became the first light heavyweight king to move up and win the heavyweight title when he outpointed IBF champion Larry Holmes, but history isn't on Jones' side.
Many great fighters tried to move up in the past, but have suffered under the storm of opponents who can throw much harder punches.
But that was the past and things were different back then. The cruiserweight division is a relatively new invention and weight class divisions weren't as dramatic.
Perhaps the greatest challenge by a light heavyweight came in what many consider the greatest fight of all time. In June 1941, Billy Conn, at 169 pounds was outweighed by at least 30 pounds by Joe Louis.
Conn out-boxed and out-slugged Louis for 12 rounds and almost sent Louis to the floor at the end of the 12th.
Overconfident and ahead on points going into the 13th round, Conn wanted the knockout and came out slugging. After winning the first half of the round, the careless fighting allowed the bigger and stronger Louis to eventually land a number of unanswered blows and knocked out Conn with two seconds left in the 13th round.
Ruiz holds no comparison to Joe Louis, but he did survive Holyfield. Jones is perhaps the greatest fighter of his era, but is giving up a lot of weight. If history can teach us anything, it is that all bets are off.
Ruiz is much bigger, but the difference in skill is greater than the difference in size. Jones may have difficulty winning a decision after 12 because he's a free agent and Ruiz is in the Don King camp.
The current line on the fight holds Jones as a 9-5 favorite, but in these kinds of fights, all bets are off.
Privacy Policy
Network Advertising
Article Syndication
