Holyfield-Ruiz III was a lot like Jurassic Park III: predictable storyline, slower than the original, and left plenty of room for an unnecessary Part IV. In the rubber match, boxing dinosaur Evander Holyfield appeared to have narrowly defeated Ruiz after a bloody final round that saw Ruiz hanging on for dear life. But the judges showed an apathy similar to the fans' and, unable to come to a consensus, declared the bout a draw. It was the correct decision, although not because the fight was incredibly close and featured a number of impossible-to-score rounds. It was correct because neither Ruiz nor Holyfield did enough to win, let alone be called champion.

The first round of the third fight looked like just about every other round in the trilogy: Holyfield looking for a knockout punch, Ruiz throwing awkward one-twos, plenty of clinching and lots of complaining to the referee. Ruiz complained that Holyfield pushed him to the canvas, Holyfield complained that Ruiz hit him low, Ruiz complained that Holyfield was shoving his forearm into his neck, Holyfield complained that Ruiz was holding instead of fighting. In between the complaints, they hugged like old friends. The pro-Ruiz crowd that filled Foxwoods Casino's new arena were eerily silent. This was a bout for the heavyweight title?

Truth be told, Holyfield did manage to establish his left hook in the opening round. Several times when Ruiz came at him to bearhug, Holyfield ripped off a short hook that landed on the button. One of these early hooks shook Ruiz in the fight's opening seconds, as it would several times throughout the bout. But Holyfield seemed convinced that the hook would fold Ruiz, and so he kept the punch cocked and ready more often than he let it go. As with most fighters who are shot: he could see the openings, but he couldn't pull the trigger.

With Holyfield waiting for the perfect opening, Ruiz was free to do as he pleased... which was little. In a few rounds, especially early in the bout, Ruiz remembered that he could pretty much tag Holyfield any time he wanted to. As such, Ruiz took turns leading with a jab, a lead right, uppercuts, hooks, you name it. Mostly Holyfield just stood there and watched the punches land. But unlike the previous fights, Ruiz rarely got on the offensive. He seemed content to jerk his torso around and stay out of Holyfield's way. Anytime the men got close, Ruiz immediately tried to clinch. Referee Steve Smoger nearly went hoarse trying to separate these men over twelve full rounds.

Most of the rounds were slow. Much slower than those of the earlier fights. And each round was difficult to score with the lack of action, let alone the lack of clean punches. Ruiz may have stolen the tepid second round with a big uppercut just as Holyfield likely stole an uneventful fourth round with a similar single blast from underneath. So unmemorable were the other events in those rounds that one punch was all it took to swing the judges one way or another. And some rounds didn't even have one punch to go by, such as the dreadful seventh round. By far and away the most boring round of the 36 these two have fought, the seventh round featured not a single punch worth remembering. In a perfect world, we could score this round 9-9, because neither man did enough to deserve the 10-10 that the rules require for an even round.

Holyfield-Ruiz III was a real snoozer until the ninth round, when Holyfield suddenly woke up. For a flash in the that stanza, Holyfield looked like the aggressive warrior from the first Riddick Bowe battle. Instead of loading up on single bombs, he threw combinations at angles, catching Ruiz with a series of crisp punches for the first time all night. Evander's late rally extended into the tenth, and was slowed only when Ruiz' holding and grabbing became flagrant. The round ended strong as well, with Ruiz spinning Holyfield into a corner and unleashing the first sustained combination of his own. Holyfield let his own hands go, and ended the 15-second exchange with a vicious right hand that swiveled Ruiz' head and stopped him in his tracks.

By the time the final round came around, one thing was certain: the fight was up for grabs. With seemingly everything on the line, neither man fought with intensity. But halfway through the round, Ruiz ducked into a short Holyfield hook that busted his nose. The blood began to pour out of Ruiz' nostrils. Holyfield now swung wildly to try and finish Ruiz off. A couple of early glancing shots indicated that Ruiz was either hurt or being extremely distracted by the unending fountain of blood that washed down his face. But Ruiz eventually tied Holyfield up. The rally stopped, and each time Holyfield again tried to land, Ruiz immediately grabbed Holyfield's waist and forced Smoger to take the maximum time to break the fighters.

With a clear victory in the final round, a smiling Holyfield was swarmed by cornermen who were certain he had won. By contrast, Ruiz looked concerned and anxious in his corner. The final tally was eventually read: 116-112 for Holyfield, 115-113 for Ruiz and 114-114 Even. When the fight was announced a draw, an ecstatic Ruiz jumped up in the air twice and screamed "Yeah! Wooooh!" We've never seen anyone so excited to get a draw.

Now what? After this lackluster follow-up, it's difficult to imagine the public (or a cable network) being interested in Holyfield-Ruiz IV. And yet, it seems somehow fitting. Since neither of these fighters appear to be good enough to beat a Top Ten heavyweight, they might as well continue to fight each other.

If we were John Ruiz, we'd certainly want to fight Holyfield again. It sure beats the prospect of facing WBA mandatory Kirk Johnson. Johnson's inactivity is a factor, but Ruiz himself hadn't fought since March of this year. Johnson would have to be the favorite. A more likely scenario is that Don King gets the ratings switched, or that Holyfield becomes a mandatory for yet another rematch because of the draw.

For Holyfield, who would he rather face than Ruiz? Now winless in four of his last five fights, Holyfield doesn't yet have the momentum for a big money showdown with Tyson. He'd have to face another young, and certainly more talented, prospect before earning another title shot... and that seems unlikely.

No, Holyfield and Ruiz are made for each other. Maybe they could do it once a month, each time in a different city. Or maybe they could fight three times in three days? Perhaps their next fight should stipulate that they'll fight as many rounds as it takes. No matter what they decide, you can bet the boxing public, despite the complaints, will show up to watch. After all, didn't Jurassic Park III make a killing at the box office?

.....Chris Bushnell

SEE ALSO:

March 3, 2001: HOLYFIELD-RUIZ II
August 12, 2000: HOLYFIELD-RUIZ I