John Ruiz has opened his mouth a lot lately, calling out a lot of HWs, claiming that nobody wants to face him. He’s not just waiting another 6 months for his mandatory shot at the WBA-belt against the winner of Valuev-Chagaev II, no, he’s looking for a fight right now and he’s risking his spot by doing that – that’s an attitude I respect a lot. Apparently none of the HWs that he’s named heeded his call. On the other hand, James Toney is ready to fight and word on the street is that he’s in shape. So in my opinion Ruiz should give Toney a rematch, I mean it’d be a chance for Ruiz to avenge his ‘loss’ while at the same time it’s a chance for Toney to clear the controversy that stems from their first encounter. That fight makes sense. Now I don’t like seeing John Ruiz fight, his hug n’ hold em style is terrible, in fact the only times he was in a good fight was when he clearly lost – to Tua, RJJ and Toney. Still, he’s faced a who is who in the HW division (except for the Klitschkos) and he has more often than not proved to be a very difficult man to beat. After all these years he’s still there at the top of the division, and he’s there for a cause (another sign that the division is weak indeed). John Ruiz has been very competitive with every fighter he faced since Toney, and I believe he deserved the nod in at least one of the two Valuev fights. Fact is also, James Toney whooped his ass in their first encounter, and he whooped him bad – worse than Roy Jones did. Sure, James didn’t pass the post-fight drug test, so the fight was rightfully ruled a NC – no contest - still it was plain to see that it wasn’t the roids that ‘won’ Toney the fight, but his skills. And I believe Toney can whip him again if they meet a second time. And why not make this fight an eliminator for the WBA belt? Most of the boxing world says that Ruiz doesn’t deserve his mandatory shot at the WBA belt (btw not many mandatory challengers do these days, at least not in the HW division – just look at Hasim Rahman and Oleg Maskaev), well if he could avenge his ‘loss’ over Toney I guess he’d definitely deserve it. The winner of Toney-Ruiz II would then face the winner of Valuev-Chagaev II next. Ruiz gave both Valuev and Chagaev tough, close fights (I believe Ruiz deserved the nod in at least one of the two Valuev fights), and while I don’t think that Toney would stand a chance against either Klitschko at this stage, I think he could still beat both Valuev and Chagaev, because styles make fights. John Ruiz is 37 years old, Toney is 40, and they’re both at the end of their careers. Make Ruiz-Toney II happen, with the winner having one last shot at a major belt and the loser retiring. Your thoughts?
I'm a big fan of Toney but I think both should just retire at this point. Ruiz cos he's **** and boring. Toney because he has done more than enough in his career and at 40 he doesn't need to be fighting anymore. I can understand why he would continue. The man loves fighting, but he has been fighting for years now and he doesn't need to damage himself. The fact that a 40 year-old, fat James Toney and a old,boring Ruiz are in contention for a title shot in the Heavyweight division speaks volumes about the state of it at the moment. I would still watch the fight if it was made though.
Would I really want to see this fight? I remember looking forward to the first fight because I knew that Roy Jones had shown how to beat Ruiz and we were going to see him lose again. However, 4 years on? It would be a fight between a guy who can't fight and a guy who used to be good but needs to get out of the ring soon because he hasn't looked anything better than ordinary since the first Peter fight and that was mainly due to Peter's tactics. If this fight did take place I can see Ruiz winning by a UD. Toney was VERY fortunate to win his last fight and has aged whilst Ruiz hasn't really declined (or improved) since their first fight. It would be an awful fight.
Ruiz got schooled by a 36 year old overweight middleweight but instead of offering a rematch to clarify things, he has claimed for years that his loss was due to Toney's abuse of steroid. I say that Ruiz should feel embaressed to get beat up as a heavyweight champ by an old middleweight like that. Does this guy have any pride at all? A match between the 2 would be good because the loser would be out of the picture.
Good point, I never understood why Ruiz didn't give Toney a rematch after he retained his belt due to the NC. Toney beat him like a dog and the world was watching. But I don't think that Ruiz is scared of Toney, Ruiz isn't scared... well he isn't stupid either, that's probably why there was no rematch. But getting beat up by middleweights is indeed embarrassing, maybe even more than getting blown out in 19 seconds by David Tua...
well, looks like Toney is gonna fight Sergei Lyakhovich on July 4th now. Like antsu said, Ruiz should put his WBA mandatory shot on the line against the winner then..
Let's put aside the fact that Toney cheated wit his roids...Toney did not "school" Ruiz. The fight was competitive, with Toney winning. Roy's victory over Ruiz was a complete shutout. Now as for the rematch question, James Toney is finished. DONE! In fact he was never all that (at Heavyweight) to begin with. James Toney was out-boxed by Sam Peter (out-boxed by a skilless clubber!). He lost (you know he did) to Fres Oquendo. His only notable win was over Granpa Holyfield. Toney is nothing more than a survior. He can hang in there due to his skills and chin, but he can't muster enough to beat anyone cleanly. I hope we never see the fat-man in the ring again.
"where my hoe at" to the thread. jawny is my fav fighter not to watch. i like him in the rankings, talking and wearing long shoulder coats with a pimp stick finished by a donny hathaway cap. i know he is a tough mutha****er to outpoint and look good against. it is a good prooving point but you can have just as much justification as having rahman-toney III or ruiz-evander IV
