Columnist Dean Juipe: Holyfield-Ruiz goes on, but no one cares

Dean Juipe

Thursday, Dec. 13, 2001 | 10:09 a.m.

Dean Juipe's boxing notebook appears Thursday. His sports column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or 259-4084.

For a heavyweight title fight, this one has a low, low, low profile.

World Boxing Association champion John Ruiz and four-time former champion Evander Holyfield will fight Saturday at an Indian reservation near Ledyard, Conn., although the bout has barely made a blip on the sport's radar screen.

There were no conference calls and no implied or expressed access to the fighters. In fact, there has been very little even written about this third fight between the pair, Holyfield having won the first and Ruiz having taken the rematch.

"I feel like the Rodney Dangerfield of boxing," Ruiz told the Boston Globe. "I get no respect. I feel like I beat Holyfield twice.

"People need to understand I'm here to stay."

Ruiz can add to his credentials and likely put Holyfield into retirement in a fight that will be televised by HBO.

Ruiz, 37-4 with 27 knockouts, is being paid $3.2 million.

Holyfield, 37-5-1 with 25 KOs, gets $2 million for a fight that will be held in a 4,500-seat bingo hall.

The bout had been scheduled for Aug. 5 in Beijing, China, but was postponed by a Ruiz neck injury. It was rescheduled for Nov. 24 then pushed back to Dec. 15.

The two earlier Ruiz vs. Holyfield fights were held in Las Vegas.

Betting lines on the fight have been absolutely stagnant in Las Vegas, indicating a lack of widespread interest in the bout. As it stands (and as it opened) at Caesars Palace, each man is a minus 120.

HBO will rebroadcast the card, which includes a title defense by IBF bantamweight champ Tim Austin vs. Ratanachai Vorapin, Sunday and Tuesday.

Deaths: Faye Miller, who operated the Golden Gloves Gym; Jay Edson, a former referee and site coordinator for Top Rank; and Leon Hardison, a former inspector for the Nevada State Athletic Commission. ... Dave Moody, who has the local Golden Gloves franchise license, indicates he will keep the gym open. ... Local heavyweight Cliff Couser rebounded from a Sept. 21 loss to Willie Chapman in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, by knocking out James Johnson in the second round last Thursday in his native St. Louis. "I was familiar with him from the amateurs," Couser said. "I knew he had a good jab, but I went into the fight stress-free and beat him with a three-punch combination to the body and head."

Reno's Glenn Carano has indicated he will step down from his seat on the Nevada State Athletic Commission at a date in the near future. ... Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales exchanged punches as part of an impromptu scuffle in Houston promoting their March 2 featherweight fight in Las Vegas. Barrera struck first and Morales responded as promoter Bob Arum attempted to pose the fighters for photographers. Barrera is a slight betting favorite for the bout at the MGM, as he's a minus 200 to Morales' plus 160. ... Neither Las Vegan is apt to have any trouble next Wednesday in Oroville, Calif., as heavyweight David Tua, 38-3, faces punching bag Garing Lane, who is an abysmal 20-27-2, and super bantamweight Wayne McCullough, 23-3, takes on Alvin Brown, who is 17-4 but with only six knockouts.