The entire landscape of the heavyweight division changed the night John Ruiz outpointed Evander Holyfield for the WBA heavyweight championship. Ruiz threw fear into the hearts of absolutely no one with his mediocre showing, as he quickly joined Primo Carnera, Frans Botha, and Bruce Seldon as one of the worst fighters to ever lay claim to boxing's top prize. But on this night, he was at least as good as a 38 year-old Holyfield, who seemed to have the fight in hand until a devastating knockdown in the 11th round completely changed the momentum of the contest.

The fight began quickly, as Ruiz rushed Holyfield much as he had in the first contest. This time, Holyfield seemed prepared for the attack, and wasted no time in counterpunching the lanky Ruiz as he came in. Time and again the fighters tied up, and a frustrated Ruiz began shoving Holyfield after only a few clinches. Ruiz obviously bought into the pre-fight hype that Holyfield was a dirty fighter, and complained nearly every time Holyfield's tactics bent the rules. For his part, Holyfield looked none too pleased to be pushed around, and angrily shook off Ruiz' willingness to wrestle. Boxing Chronicle scored this first round to Holyfield, whose crisp counter punches caught Ruiz' attention early.

Ruiz suffered a major setback early in the second round when his left eye suddenly began swelling shut. Several times early in this round (and really, during the fight as a whole), Ruiz would miss with a long right hand and wind up leaning over off balance. Often, Holyfield would time Ruiz' misses and nail him with a short right hand. Other times, Ruiz would fall into Evander's head and the two would clash faces. Neither a strong punch nor a particularly hard butt occurred early in the second, making Ruiz' swelling all the more odd. Still, a soft bubble grew beneath his eye, and by the end of round two the mouse had almost completely closed Ruiz' eye.

Ruiz continued launching his unspectacular right hand through the second and third rounds, and Holyfield was having an easy go of it picking off Ruiz as he came in. Holyfield's crisp counters - and clean punches on the inside as the men would tie up - banked him these rounds on our card as well, although both rounds were extremely close. With both men landing at a fairly even rate, we favored Holyfield on the basis of the strength of his punches. When he nailed Ruiz with a big right hand at the end of the third, Ruiz' entire body seemed to quake. Whenever Ruiz would land a similar right, it simply bounced off Holyfield's head without much effect.

By the fourth round, it became readily apparent that all of the adjustments Ruiz claimed to have made were mere fiction. He showed none of the side-to-side movement he promised he would display, and his willingness to mix it up with the stronger champion was again his downfall. Worse, Ruiz lacked clear concentration. Yes, he and Evander crashed heads multiple times, but mostly these butts came after Ruiz missed with a big right hand and followed through by leaning into Holyfield. Such was the case in the fourth round, when Holyfield slipped a Ruiz right but caught his forehead follow-through when Ruiz came sailing forward. This butt caused a deep gash on Ruiz that began near the bridge of his nose and ran diagonally across his forehead for about an inch. It was a good match to the heavy swelling under that eye, which had now turned black.

When Ruiz returned to his corner after the fourth, trainer Norm Stone was absolutely freaking out. He was in a lather about Holyfield's alleged fouling, and his shrill screaming did little to calm his fighter. For most of the following rounds, especially after those in which Ruiz had taken a beating, Stone would spend the one-minute rest period complaining about this or that while he swore at everyone from the referee to the cutman to his fighter. It was not the environment Ruiz needed to get back on track, especially with him now handing four consecutive rounds to Holyfield on Boxing Chronicle's scorecard.

Holyfield began to mix things up in the fifth round by choosing to lead instead of simply countering Ruiz' simplistic attack. It only took a few moments before Holyfield nailed Ruiz clean with a right uppercut and the cut over his left eye began flowing blood. The blood poured down Ruiz' nose and into his swollen eye in this, the only round that Ruiz' corner was unable to stem the bleeding. Holyfield won this round, too. Firing a firm left hook, Holyfield was landing solid effective punches for most of the round. Ruiz sparked a minor rally late in the round with a good four punch combo, which Holyfield quickly answered with a four punch answer. The difference in punching power was clear. When Ruiz would land, he would wind up off balance. When Holyfield landed, his punches were compact and usually caught Ruiz walking in.

By the sixth, Ruiz looked to be in full retreat. He started this middle round slowly circling away from Holyfield, looking for a way to change the momentum. By mid-round, Ruiz stopped moving, and Holyfield punished him repeatedly. When Holyfield would throw straight punches, he would almost always land. Ruiz showed next to zero head movement during the actual exchanges, and with obstructed vision, seemed to be softening up. Ruiz landed his best punches of the night near the end of this round, as he nailed Holyfield with a nice left hook to the body followed by a left uppercut. The uppercut caught Holyfield leaning in, and the punch made Evander stand straight up. Ruiz followed with two clean right hands, but Evander halted Ruiz in his tracks with a gigantic right uppercut of his own. Again, Ruiz ended the round by returning to a corner that was too excited to work on their fighter. Norm Stone again spent the round screaming at everyone, and Ruiz, now down 6-0 on our card needed to turn things around badly.

It didn't happen in the seventh. Ruiz didn't throw a single punch in the first minute of round seven, as he circled away from Holyfield amidst scattered catcalls from the audience. Holyfield didn't throw anything as he gave chase, but ended the truce with a lead right hand that bounced off Ruiz' nose. Ruiz was tiring quickly, and Holyfield was continuing to work him over when the men clinched. Holyfield's biggest punch so far came near the end of this round as Ruiz walked right into a big Holyfield left hook. The punch landed square on Ruiz' forehead and momentarily dazed the challenger. Holyfield took advantage of Ruiz' wobbling to land four hard blows to the body, but while Ruiz was hurt, he did not go down. No matter, Holyfield now banked his seventh consecutive round on our card. Even if you handed Ruiz a few of the early close rounds (and we have no problem with that swing), Holyfield had now built a solid lead and had firm control of the fight's momentum.

Both men took off the eighth round as the pace of the fight dipped dramatically. Ruiz had a little more hustle in his game, and rediscovered his mostly ineffective jab in this stanza. But after winning the round, Ruiz promptly went out and gave Holyfield the ninth. Ruiz almost never threw combinations beyond a one-two, making Holyfield's task in the counterpunching department extremely easy. Each time Ruiz would come in, Holyfield would fire off between one and three short punches. These were not spectacular shots, but they were thrown with good leverage. By contrast, most of Ruiz' punches came with the challenger reaching across the distance, and allowing Holyfield to block at least a portion of most attempts.

Holyfield's aggression also began a second mouse on Ruiz' face, this one below his right eye. But before the swelling could grow too large, Holyfield creamed Ruiz with a flush left hook to the eye that broke the swelling open. As this new cut dripped blood, Ruiz looked like he had been in a major car accident while Holyfield was virtually unmarked. Holyfield felt he had Ruiz hurt after this big hook, and ended the round by throwing his hardest shots of the evening. Holyfield must have felt Ruiz was ready to go, because he began really launching his punches with bad intentions. For his part, Ruiz simply covered up and tried to make the best of it.

Ruiz looked dead to begin the tenth round. Holyfield had done an admirable job working the body for most of the fight, but had really increased the number of punches to the midsection in the previous two rounds. As the tenth began, Ruiz' face was a mess (his nose was now bleeding, too) and he looked exhausted. Ruiz, who had complained to the referee in most every round, was now complaining about fouls that didn't even happen. Early in the tenth, Holyfield cracked Ruiz with a solid overhand right to the ear. Ruiz clutched Holyfield and complained to Joe Cortez about rabbit punching. Cortez didn't fall for it. Ruiz looked finished. Over and over he would miss wildly and then simply lean into Holyfield, clutch his waist, and then push the champion back into the ropes.

But then the entire fight changed. Holyfield threw a left uppercut to the body while the men were in close quarters and missed his target. The punch landed square on the belt line... low enough to warrant a warning, but not low enough to make male viewers cringe in empathy. Still, Ruiz immediately dropped to the canvas face down and stayed there. He looked like he was looking for a way out of the fight. He was not clutching his package (at first), but rather laying down like he had been kayoed. Joe Cortez let him know that he had 5 minutes to recover, and Ruiz spent about three of those minutes on his back or side, flat on the canvas. Ruiz took his time getting to his feet, where he insisted on using the maximum time allowed. He walked around a bit, took a knee for a minute, and caught his breath. Cortez repeatedly asked the timekeeper how much longer Ruiz had, but the time quoted by the official seemed much longer than five full minutes. During this charade, Holyfield was penalized a point for low blows.

Ruiz looked drained, but as soon as Cortez called for the fight to continue, he immediately snapped to life. He quickly began moving his head and throwing punches. As soon as the fighters got into a clinch, Ruiz threw a blatant retaliation low blow at Holyfield, landing square on the cup. Cortez warned Ruiz, but didn't take a point. Holyfield shook it off and finished the round strong. We scored this one 9-9, with Holyfield winning the round, but losing a point for the low blow.

And then came the eleventh round, and it was a whole new fight. The bout was moving at it's typical slow pace when Ruiz suddenly landed a firm right hand to the base of Evander's jaw. The punch rattled Holyfield and his legs buckled in place. As Ruiz tried to follow up with two missed punches, Holyfield wobbled in place then fell flat onto his back. He was hurt. Holyfield would later admit that he never saw the punch coming.

Using the ropes to pull himself up, Holyfield arose with a left eye full with blood. He didn't look too hurt as Cortez administered the mandatory eight, but once the bout began, Holyfield was hanging on for dear life. As Ruiz came at him to attack, Holyfield lunged at him in a hug and slammed Ruiz back into a turnbuckle. Cortez tried in vain to separate the fighters, but Holyfield would not let go. Holyfield's arms went around Ruiz' body and clutched the ropes. As Cortez tried unsuccessfully to get Holyfield to let go, Ruiz got out by sliding down to his knees and literally crawling out of Holyfield's hug. As soon as the bout continued, Holyfield again grabbed at Ruiz' arms, holding him as tightly as he could.

Once Ruiz got free, he punished Holyfield for the entire rest of the round. Evander was surprisingly never able to regain his senses. Ruiz chased the wobbly Holyfield from one side of the ring to another, hitting him with long right hands and a few uppercuts along the way. Holyfield instigated several blatant holds, including several that were so obvious and so hard for Cortez to break that Evander should have lost another point. No matter, Ruiz beat Holyfield so badly in this round that we scored the bout 10-7 with a single knockdown. We aren't sure if Evander even landed a single punch in the two minutes that followed the knockdown, but he certainly ate almost everything Ruiz threw, including several solid right hands that Ruiz landed after measuring Holyfield's chin with an extended left.

Unbelievably, Holyfield had recovered by the start of the 12th and final round. For the entire first minute of the round, Holyfield repeatedly nailed Ruiz coming in with a double left hook, downstairs then up. After landing this combo about five times, Ruiz finally decided to not simply rush Holyfield without throwing, and he returned to his one-two arsenal. By mid-round, the blood returned to Holyfield's left eye, blinding him. Once Evander's vision was gone, he simply could not avoid Ruiz' right hands, and the challenger threw the right over and over and over to close out the round, and the fight. Kudos go to Ruiz for claiming the final two rounds, especially after he looked ready to go in the tenth.

But even with rounds eleven and twelve in his column, Ruiz was down 114-111 on the Boxing Chronicle scorecard. Without question, several of the opening four rounds could have swung either way. Since it would only take a two round swing to make the fight a draw, the final decision could go either way. When Jimmy Lennon Jr. announced a unanimous decision (114-111, 115-110, 116-110), we assumed that the Las Vegas judges had once again rewarded Holyfield's heavier punches over Ruiz' more voluminous output. We were wrong. John Ruiz was announced as the winner. God help us all.

We wont begrudge Ruiz his victory, because despite the three-point margin on our cards, the fight was a toss-up either way. But don't expect Boxing Chronicle to start singing Ruiz' praises. Let's face it: he sucks. His offense is severely limited, his chin is suspect, his footwork is laughable, and his conditioning leaves much to be desired. Quick, name a single contender you would pick Ruiz to defeat. You can't. Not only would Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis, or David Tua destroy Ruiz in one round, but fringe contenders like Oleg Maskaev, Kirk Johnson, Lance Whitaker, and both Klitschko brothers would heavy favorites going in. Can anyone picture Ruiz competing with a fighter other than a washed-up Holyfield? We didn't think so. Maybe Roy Jones could move up and fight Ruiz... we'd pick him to win. Hell, maybe we'll see a Battle of Puerto Rico with Felix Trinidad fighting for the heavyweight title. Hell, we might even pick Tito by KO.

And so Ruiz becomes the first Latino heavyweight champion (even though we all know Lennox Lewis is the rightful WBA champ). Who should he fight next? The obvious answer is Holyfield. Even though a third fight sounds about as exciting as watching paint dry, it's probably the easiest fight out there for Ruiz. Hell, we'd even pick Chris Byrd or Mo Harris to beat him. And since Holyfield showed absolutely zero inclination towards retirement, it's the fight that makes the most sense. The other option, other than fighting a complete scrub for some easy money, seems like a big payday against Mike Tyson. But even an aging Tyson could erase Ruiz faster than David Tua did, which would only set up Tyson-Holyfield IV. Where does Ruiz go from here? First he has to recover (his face was a wreck after the fight)... and then he has some hard decision to make. We wish him the best of luck... and he'll need it.

For Evander Holyfield (now 37-5-1/25), this should be the end of the road. In his last four fights, he is 1-2-1, but most people would have no problem claiming that he is 0-4. Given Lennox Lewis' schedule, we expect talk to shift to Holyfield-Tyson IV, especially since Holyfield looked so worn out. Evander clearly should retire... but he won't. The $5 million he made this evening barely stacks up against his career earnings, yet he'll no doubt fight on. Claiming that he would still regain the undisputed heavyweight championship, Holyfield simply stated that he will "just get back in line." Don't do it Evander. Please.

Holyfield-Ruiz II topped off a mildly entertaining undercard. On it, Miguel Angel Gonzalez ended his career as a top contender by losing a split decision to Manuel Gomez. Gomez had not fought in 2 and a half years, and carried a record of 17-10 into the ring. But he outhustled Gonzalez at nearly every turn.

MAGO looked awful. He failed to make the contract weight of 147, scaling in at 152 pounds. By fight time he was up to 156, and none of it was muscle. While he didn't look overly flabby, he was definitely soft... and flat footed. If you think Gonzalez started off slow before, you should see him at 156. He dropped three of the first four rounds to Gomez, who threw more punches and landed cleanly at every turn. After four rounds, Gonzalez was complaining to his corner that he was exhausted. It showed.

Actually, Gomez wasn't in much better shape. From the fifth round on, he frequently took a step back and gulped air through his mouth in an exaggerated effort to catch his breath. Gomez didn't have big power, but he found MAGO so easy to hit that he simply teed off at every chance. The sixth round was a particular highlight. After Gonzalez lost a point for low blows (a deduction that could have come two rounds earlier, as nearly every Gonzalez hook to the body landed on Gomez' hip), he mounted his biggest rally of the night. Knowing that he was falling way behind, he unloaded everything but the kitchen sink on Gomez for a full minute. But as soon as he stopped, Gomez was ready. Launching a six-punch combo filled mostly with uppercuts, Gomez stopped Gonzalez in his tracks. As the crowd leapt to their feet, Gonzalez answered with another mini-rally. But again Gomez ended the rally with stinging blows of his own, including a straight right hand that pushed Gonzalez chin all the way down to his neck. This punch really halted MAGO in his tracks, and he ended his best round on the ropes taking a beating.

Gomez didn't have the superior skills, but he clearly wanted it more. Gonzalez looked apathetic, at times even looking like he knew he had undertrained. In the seventh, Gomez landed nearly every uppercut he threw. Gonzalez made a decent stand in the final rounds, beating up on Gomez effectively in the eighth and ninth rounds. Bobby Czyz, announcer for Showtime, had spent so much time in the early rounds criticizing Gonzalez that he was on too much of a roll to stop. In the eighth and ninth rounds, Czyz simply wouldn't shut up about how bad Gonzalez looked... even as Gonzalez pounded Gomez for most of the ninth. As you would expect, when the decision was read, Czyz wasted no time in calling the decision a farce and the judges blind. Hey Bobby... do us all a favor and shut the fuck up. You just don't know what you're talking about.

The fight was actually quite close going into the final round... and Gomez won the twelfth clearly. Gonzalez was completely spent and without any head movement to speak of, just sat there and took punches. This final round gave Gomez the edge, 95-94 on the Boxing Chronicle scorecard. The official decision was equally close. One judge had MAGO up 95-94, with another favoring Gomez by the same tally. The third judge liked Gomez 97-92.. a score which came closer to Czyz' one-sided score. The bout would have been a draw without the one-point low blow deduction... but Gonzalez is lucky he didn't lose more points. Even in the 12th he was firing well below the belt line.

And now Gonzalez' career is in limbo. Having fought only once since his August 1999 destruction at the hands of Kostya Tszyu, Gonzalez looked shot. He was out of shape, uninspired, and showed diminished skills and reflexes. Before this bout, he hoped for a rematch with Oscar DelaHoya. Actually... the way DelaHoya is bottom feeding in the division, he just might get that fight. Oscar isn't looking for a challenge, and MAGO won't present one. A perfect match.

In other undercard action, IBF 118 lb. champion Tim Austin defended his title for the sixth time with a sixth-round knockout of Jesus Perez. Perez looked like he was from the Mia St. John School of Boxing, as he threw sissy windmills punches every time he let his hands go. For the first two rounds, Austin did little but look on at amazement at Perez. He must have been thinking "Where did Don King dig this guy up?" Perez and Austin stood about five feet apart in these opening rounds. The only punches came when Perez leapt in and slapped at Austin with his bizarre offense. Austin really didn't land a clean punch until the third, and then the first one he landed sent Perez down to the canvas.

Perez rose with a bloody mouth and withstood the boos as he ran around the ring showboating and winging wild ridiculous punches at the champion. Austin simply kept his cool, and began timing Perez by the end of the fifth. Austin dropped Perez again in the fifth with a single left hand, then finished the job in the sixth. Early in that round, Austin fired two flush body shots at Perez, whose legs seemed to go numb from the blows. Austin then sent Perez down again with another left. Without any legs to hold him up, Perez went down in a heap and arose looking seriously hurt. Kenny Bayless let the fight continue, and Perez lasted another 20 seconds until Austin reached out and tagged him again with a nice right uppercut to the side of the face. When Perez crumpled to the floor this time, Bayless didn't even begin a count. Austin KO6. After the fight, Austin (22-0/20) expressed interest in unifying the title against Paulie Ayala... but Ayala is under contract to Bob Arum and looks to have his sights set on 122 champ Bones Adams. Poor Austin looks doomed to toil in obscurity.

In the night's opening bout, Christy Martin had a bit of a scare as wild puncher Jeanne Martinez stole three of the first five rounds with her wild, but heavy, punches. Christy Martin weighed in at a flabby 144.5 and was so easy to hit it's downright scary. After winning the fourth round, she returned to her corner where husband/trainer Jim Martin told her that Martinez was tired. "Well, so am I!" replied Martin. Indeed, Christy fought the rest of the fight with her mouth hanging open. Luckily, Martinez was just as tired as Jim said she was. Even luckier, she never got a second wind. By the end, Martinez was completely drained and barely able to throw a punch. Still, even in this condition she was able to land on Martin. Throwing slo-mo punches with no steam, Martinez was able to swivel Christy's head with nearly every blow. Boxing Chronicle had it 97-93 Martin, while the officials went 97-93, 98-92 and 99-91.

After the fight, Martin claimed that she would fight Kathy Collins, Mia St. John and Lucia Rijker... all this year. Yeah, right. The big fight for Christy at this stage is the battle of the bulge. Any more girth and she'll be ready to fight Laila Ali at 168. After the bout Bobby Czyz cried out "Let me tell you, the fans got their money's worth with that just that fight right there." We said it before, and we'll say it again: Hey Bobby. Shut the fuck up.

Overall, this boxing card was not nearly as boring as so many recent Don King cards... but it wasn't worth the pay-per-view price, either. If Holyfield was wise enough to retire, this card would have held a place in history as the final chapter in the story of a great warrior. Instead, it's just another piece of evidence in the case against Holyfield's diminishing abilities. Let's just hope he retires before someone completely destroys him.

.....Chris Bushnell