Columnist Dean Juipe: Big Macs, not riches, in Ruiz’s immediate future

Dean Juipe

Thursday, July 18, 2002 | 8:22 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4084.

Boxing is especially big among Spanish-speaking peoples, so it was reasonable to expect John Ruiz to financially capitalize when he became the first heavyweight champion with an Hispanic background.

Born in Puerto Rico, Ruiz took the World Boxing Association title from Evander Holyfield last year and will defend that crown July 27 against mandatory challenger Kirk Johnson at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. But an avalanche of riches has yet to be forthcoming.

"We're still eating at McDonald's," said Ruiz's manager, Norman Stone, during a conference call this week.

Likewise, Ruiz came across as subdued and almost glum about his stature in the sport.

"I don't think I've got the gorilla off my back yet," he said, referring in part to a 19-second knockout loss to David Tua six years ago that continues to haunt him. That loss -- along with others to Holyfield, Sergei Kobozev and Danell Nicholson -- has kept the public from embracing Ruiz as a worthy champion.

Bettors continue to agree, as Ruiz is up as a plus 240 underdog in the Mandalay Bay sports book. Johnson is a minus 300 favorite.

"Most people say I'm going to win the fight ... but when the bell rings there's not a favorite," Johnson said. "I don't worry about stuff like that."

The fighters' handlers are into it, however.

"I'm going to bet another million dollars that Kirk Johnson knocks out Ruiz," said Johnson's co-trainer, Lou Duva. "I've got the guy who can fight. John Ruiz is going to have a problem."

Duva's cohort, former welterweight champion Curtis Cokes, agrees.

"I think Kirk will bust the guy up and in about eight rounds we'll be going home with the belt," he said.

Stone countered with a remark directed at Duva and Cokes, telling them if they're going to "bet their houses" they'd better set aside a little money for "apartment rent" after Ruiz gets the win.

"I don't see it going past four (rounds)," Stone added. "Johnson is like a little baby when he goes back to his corner (during a fight). 'Am I winning?' 'Am I doing the right things?' What kind of fighter is that?

"Who has he fought? Let him fight John Ruiz."

Lately Johnson hasn't fought anyone, being inactive for more than a year.

"I'm not worried about that at all," he said when asked about his concerns pertaining to ring rust. "I'm finally living my lifetime dream. It's time for me to put up or shut up."

Johnson, emphasizing that he neither wants to hear about a prospective fight with WBC and IBF champion Lennox Lewis nor does he allow his people to openly discuss it, is 32-0-1 with 23 knockouts. A draw with Al Cole is the only blemish on his record.

Ruiz is 37-4-1 with 27 KOs.

"I have great respect for him," Johnson said of Ruiz. "We're both young guys, both in our prime."

If that's true in Ruiz's case, it's because a series of three fights with Holyfield toughened him up. Prior to that, he was deemed only slightly better than mediocre after the losses to Nicholson and Tua in particular.

"The hardest thing for a fighter is overcoming being knocked out," Ruiz said of the stigma he still carries from the quick loss to Tua.

But he is accustomed to coming into a fight as an underdog, as he will next week.

"It fires me up a little more," he said of the betting odds being stacked against him. "It motivates me to prove people wrong. I love doing that."

He said he'll come out firing at the opening bell.

"I always come out quickly, that's no secret," Ruiz said. "We'll see in that round what Kirk Johnson has."

Both of the fighters will take part in a Monday press conference in Los Angeles and make their way to Las Vegas later that day.

"I'd heard maybe 10 days before the fight that there might be a problem," said Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Marc Ratner. "Bean and (manager) Butch Lewis were in some kind of fight over their contract, but I thought everything had been worked out."

It hadn't, however, and the fight intensified when Lewis filed a federal injunction Friday in Delaware that successfully prevented Bean from entering the ring with Barrett.

"We've never had this happen before," Ratner said of a contractual issue undermining a scheduled fight after weeks of promotion. "Usually, when there is a problem, (the injunction) is filed well in advance or it gets settled."

The Aladdin offered refunds but most of the 1,000 or so on hand preferred to take in what was left of the card, which in its recast form had junior lightweights Kevin Kelley and Humberto Soto in a 10-round main event. Kelley, 53-5-2, won the fight over Soto, 21-5-2, by majority decision, with scores of 116-112, 115-113 and 114-114.

"I don't think anyone went away unhappy," Ratner said. "Kelley's from Las Vegas and it could be that most people went to see him anyhow. It ended well."

As for the NSAC's responsibilities in protecting the public from bogus advertising claims, which, arguably, was the case if Bean vs. Barrett was in jeopardy right from the start, Ratner was open to the criticism.

"That's a fair question," he said. "One of our jobs is to safeguard the public interest. But I think a bigger fraud would have been if we'd have let Barrett fight someone who just came in at the last minute, which he was willing to do after Bean fell out.

"But we didn't think it was appropriate to let him fight a guy who wasn't going to get to Las Vegas until after midnight on Friday."