Heavyweight division in disarray

Dean Juipe

Monday, March 5, 2001 | 10:19 a.m.

John Ruiz drove the point home with his victory over Evander Holyfield.

As he demonstrated Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, the heavyweight division is, at least to some extent, up for grabs.

It has Lennox Lewis as the World Boxing Council and International Boxing Federation champion, and it now has Ruiz as the World Boxing Association champion.

For someone in the shoes of Oleg Maskaev, a change at the top is welcome if not encouraging news.

"All fighters have a dream of becoming champion," he said. "In my heart, I feel I can become one, too."

Maskaev, who is ranked No. 10 by the WBA, fights Saturday at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas when he takes on Lance Whitaker in the primary undercard bout beneath the Shane Mosley vs. Shannon Taylor main event.

For Maskaev, it's redemption time.

"It hasn't been easy for me," he said of life since losing to fellow contender Kirk Johnson last October in Connecticut. "I'm OK now, but it hurt. It was very upsetting for a long time.

"It puts me in a position where I have to win."

Maskaev, a native of Kazakhstan whose English is surprisingly good, took a tumble in the rankings when Johnson stopped him in the fourth round. Until that setback, he had won 10 straight fights -- including nine by knockout -- and was poised for a crack at one of the champions.

One of the men he defeated while on that winning streak, Hasim Rahman, has an April 21 date with Lewis in South Africa.

"It was at that moment when I started to think about (a title fight)," Maskaev said, reflecting to his 1999 victory over Rahman. "Everybody thought I was going to lose that fight.

"Now (Rahman) gets picked by Lewis. It's politics.

"He's lucky."

Maskaev, 32, is 20-3 with 15 KOs and has been training at the Ringside Gym.

Whitaker, 29, has a record of 22-1 with 18 KOs. He and Maskaev are scheduled for 10 rounds beneath Mosley's WBC welterweight title defense against Taylor.

"It's good to be fighting another man from the top 10," Maskaev said, as Whitaker sports a No. 9 listing in the most recent WBC ratings. "I have to do everything my trainer tells me and if I want to win I have to control the pace.

"He's a good fighter."

Veteran boxing oddsmaker Herb Lambeck makes Whitaker a slight favorite to win the showdown. But he also had Holyfield as a 2-1 favorite to defeat Ruiz.

"I came and got what belongs to me," Ruiz said after taking a decision win in a fight the judges gave him by 6, 4 and 3 points. "I beat him the first time and I beat him again."

Actually, Ruiz lost that first fight to Holyfield and now there may even be a third to settle matters. With promoter Don King clinging to the promise of a June 30 fight in Beijing, China, with the WBA title at stake, he may feel he needs a fighter of Holyfield's stature to truly sell the bout.

Holyfield certainly isn't letting on that he'll retire, despite his age (38) and this most recent loss.

"Three people saw it the same way," he said of the judges, omitting the fact most in the crowd of 8,333 saw him on the short end, too. "(Losing) is just a fact of life."

Virtually all of the fighters in the division have some experience with losing.

"It's a disaster," Lambeck said of the heavyweights. "Almost all of them have been found wanting.

"I mean, I know the public likes big guys and that's where the excitement is, but the division as a whole is just terrible."

But several of its members have fights on the agenda and the rankings could be in for additional changes.

Lewis, 38-1-1, vs. Rahman, 33-2, makes for an unlikely upset and Lambeck says "Lewis will blast him out. Rahman could get lucky, but his chin is suspect."

Should Lewis win, he'll likely meet Johnson (30-0-1) next.

"He deserves it," Lambeck said of the Canadian, who may fight David Izon on the Lewis-Rahman undercard -- but only if Izon doesn't pull out for what is now a proposed May 19 fight with Mike Tyson in Gulf Coast, Miss.

Closer to home, not only will Maskaev vs. Whitaker eliminate one man from serious contention, but two other fights scheduled for March 23 at the Texas Station will have an impact.

In the main event that night, the beleaguered David Tua (37-2) is paired with Danell Nicholson (39-3) in what is being labeled "an IBF eliminator." The undercard feature has Fres Oquendo (19-1) in with Clifford Etienne (19-0).

"I guess Etienne looks good," said Lambeck, who admits to a preference for the fighters in the lighter weight divisions. "He certainly punches hard, but he seems to get hit a lot. But he's exciting and I think a fight with him and Lewis has a chance to sell."

The Tua vs. Nicholson fight has fans already scratching their heads, given the fact Tua was destroyed by Lewis last November and many are puzzled at why the IBF would even consider moving him back up to the top of the rankings and, perhaps, into another fight with Lewis.

"Tua was exposed," Lambeck said. "Once his weight got up to 250 pounds it was hopeless.

"The IBF can't be thinking too clearly. Who would buy a fight between Tua and Lewis again? It just wouldn't sell."

For better or worse, he thinks Tua handles Nicholson.

Other fighters currently ranked in the top 10 by one of the three major organizations include: Vitali Klitschko; Wladimar Klitschko; Larry Donald; Vaughn Bean; Henry Akinwande; and Michael Grant. None is any more of a threat to either Lewis or Ruiz than the man who emerges as the winner between Maskaev and Whitaker.

"It's a competitive fight," Lambeck said. "I think Whitaker wins, but he's no second coming; he's not forceful enough.

"The funny thing is, Maskaev looked like the man until Johnson knocked him out. If he'd have just won that fight, he'd probably be the guy fighting Lewis in South Africa instead Rahman."