Ruiz likes chances second time around

Dean Juipe

Monday, Feb. 26, 2001 | 10:39 a.m.

John Ruiz doesn't think Evander Holyfield has learned his lesson.

Ruiz, who will fight Holyfield for a second time when they square off Saturday night at Mandalay Bay, felt the World Boxing Association heavyweight champion was overlooking him when they met last August at Paris Las Vegas.

Holyfield won that fight but the slim margin of his decision victory compelled the WBA to call for a rematch.

In the ensuing months, he has repeatedly said he's taking Ruiz more seriously this time around.

But Ruiz doesn't believe him.

"Holyfield took me too lightly the first time and he's taking me too lightly this time as well," Ruiz said during a conference call promoting the pay-per-view fight. "He has a game plan and he thinks I am going to be on his list of knockouts this year on his trip to retirement."

Brazenly, Holyfield has said he expects to win each of his 2001 fights by knockout and then retire while still a champion.

He's a slight betting favorite to defeat Ruiz and advance to a spring bout in China that promoter Don King has said will go to the winner.

"I don't know if people really want to see Holyfield keep fighting," Ruiz said. "From what I'm hearing, they want to see him out of the game. I feel people are tired of hearing about the same guys over and over again, and that they want some new names and new fights."

Should Ruiz win, he would become the first heavyweight champion with a Latino background and heritage, as he was born in Puerto Rico before moving to Chelsea, Mass.

He's 29 years old and has a record of 36-4 with 27 KOs.

Holyfield, 38, is 37-4-1 with 25 stoppages.

"I learned I deserved to be in the same category with these guys," Ruiz said of what he gained from his earlier loss to Holyfield. "Everybody considered me a B-level fighter (last summer) and they said I would not even last one round.

"But that fight proved to myself and the rest of the world that I could become the heavyweight champion."

He's right on both counts: People didn't expect much from him last time, yet now he's being given a chance to win.

"All throughout my career I have been looked at negatively, as though I would lose and my opponent would go on to the next fight," Ruiz said. "But now I feel a lot more confident that, if this fight goes the distance, the public and the judges will be looking at it as though there are two fighters in the ring instead of just one.

"I have better odds."

Like Holyfield, Ruiz said he'll be more assertive in the rematch.

"I'm going to use my jab like Lennox Lewis did (against David Tua in his most recent fight) and I need to use more combinations," Ruiz said. "I'm definitely going to come out more aggressive.

"Instead of coming straight in, I will be working from side to side, using the jab, the right hand and more combinations."

Ruiz, 224 pounds, would have earned a draw in the first fight had he not been wobbled by a right hand in the third round and subjected to a 10-8 score on two of the judges' cards. This time he would like to take the judges out of the equation, yet that could be wishful thinking against an opponent as sturdy as Holyfield.

"It upsets me that people think Holyfield will win," he said. "I definitely feel I won our first fight and my goal in life is to become the champion."

And what if Holyfield is taking him seriously?

"If he is, it'll be even sweeter to beat him," Ruiz replied.