Shrugging off politics, Holyfield focuses on belt

Dean Juipe

Thursday, Aug. 10, 2000 | 9:51 a.m.

Evander Holyfield and John Ruiz have spent more time attempting to justify their Saturday fight at Paris Las Vegas than actually discussing their strategies.

Holyfield will bid for his fourth term as a heavyweight champion when he and Ruiz tangle for the vacant World Boxing Association title. It's a belt that became available through the courts when Lennox Lewis failed to sign for a fight with Ruiz, the WBA's mandatory challenger.

Holyfield, 37, is 36-4-1 with 25 knockouts and is a minus 430 betting favorite in the Paris Las Vegas sports book.

Ruiz, 28, is 36-3 with 27 KOs and is a plus 330 underdog.

The round proposition is eight full rounds and a minus 120 either way.

"I don't feel this is tainted," Holyfield said of having the WBA title up for grabs. "Lewis didn't follow the regulations. He forfeited his belt."

Likewise, Ruiz said he can't concern himself with the political machinations that led to the championship vacancy.

"What was I supposed to do?" he said. "I'm following the rules. I came up the ladder."

He also knows the bettors aren't the only ones expecting him to lose.

"I'd love to throw a monkey wrench into things," he said of Holyfield's plans to win this championship and defend it in a third fight with either Lewis or Mike Tyson. "So many people are counting me out that I'd love to be the one smiling at the end.

"I'm ready and I've been ready. I know I could win this fight and I expect to do it."

This is a fight that initially was scheduled for June 10 at Caesars Palace but was postponed -- and later moved -- when Holyfield suffered a rib injury.

He reported no lingering troubles at Wednesday's final prefight press conference.

"It was smart not to fight back then," he said. "I've done that before; fought when I'm not really ready. But this time I didn't let my ego get in the way."

He said he and Ruiz deserve the title opportunity.

"You fight the fighters that are available and if you don't lose, you have nothing to worry about," he said. "We all realize some fighters duck other fighters. You can't make another contender or the champion fight you."

Holyfield, who will be paid $5 million, has not won a fight since taking a decision over Vaughn Bean Sept. 19, 1998 in Atlanta. In two fights with Lewis since then, he was held to a disputed draw and suffered a decision loss.

"I'm willing to pay the price to keep fighting," he said. "I plan on having an aggressive fight and being the champion once again."

Ruiz, who will be paid $1.1 million, has won 11 consecutive fights since his one moment of infamy, a 19-second loss to David Tua in 1996.

"I've improved in every area since then, especially mentally," he said. "I'm here to prove that to the people who doubt me."

The advertised co-main event, featuring WBA welterweight champ James Page vs. mandatory challenger Andrew Lewis, is off and has been replaced by a Rosendo Alvarez vs. Beibis Mendoza fight at 108 pounds. Page (as detailed in Tuesday's Sun) is unhappy with his purse ($112,500) and, he claims, insufficient notice that his fight with Lewis was on.

"He signed a contract and told me several times he was going to fight," said his unsympathetic promoter, Don King. "It's ludicrous. He hasn't shown."