Columnist Dean Juipe: Jones isn’t amused with Ruiz’s cartoon series

Dean Juipe

Thursday, Feb. 20, 2003 | 11:05 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.

In a three-sequence poster recently drawn by World Boxing Association heavyweight champion John Ruiz, Roy Jones Jr. is portrayed in declining physical condition. In the opening frame Jones looks fine, but by the second frame he's a little worse for wear and by the third frame he's completely beat up.

For emphasis, Ruiz drew a tattoo on Jones in the third frame, one that reads "Mommy Help Me."

Jones, predictably, is not amused.

"He's trying to pump himself up, or make me come down to his level," Jones said this week of Ruiz's artistry. "It just goes to show they're worried about me, and I'm glad to see that."

Ruiz and Jones will meet March 1 at the Thomas & Mack Center to top a pay-per-view card promoted by Don King. Ruiz, who lives in Las Vegas, has been training in Florida, while Jones, who lives in Florida, has been training in Louisiana.

Jones is a minus 200 betting favorite at the host casino, Caesars Palace, while Ruiz is a plus 170. There are a number of proposition bets available, including a "will go" 12 full rounds (at a minus 140) and a "won't go" the distance (at even money).

Ruiz is 39-4-1 and Jones, the former undisputed light heavyweight champion, is 47-1.

"I'm very tense right now," Jones said from his camp. "This is the hardest time; the hardest thing is to maintain."

He said he hasn't been sparring with anyone out of the ordinary and that those who say he's in for a surprise when he gets hit by a heavyweight -- as IBF heavyweight champion Chris Byrd maintains -- haven't caused him to train any differently.

"He's probably right," Jones said of Byrd's opinion. "But I've got a shock for (Ruiz), too."

The implication: Jones may, at least periodically, stand and fight with Ruiz in spite of the fact he'll be giving up some 40 pounds.

"He's going to push me around, I know he's going to push me around," Jones said. "He's a tricky guy, but I have the best defense."

Is that "best defense" a good offense?

"I think he's trying to get me to sit down and fight toe to toe," Jones said. "(But) if it happens, it's because it's what I choose to do."

Ruiz is more concerned that Jones will simply try to be elusive.

"I think he'll pull out his bike and run around the ring," Ruiz said during a conference call last week. "He's not known for his punching power, he's known more for his quickness and movement and that's what we're training for."

Both men have been training in spite of the fact Jones has been reluctant to formally sign his contract for the fight. But he said he would get it done and that the only remaining issues pertained to such things as undercard fighters, rooms and phones.

"I'm looking out for myself," Ruiz said, as if he was unconcerned about Jones and the contractual issues. "I'm going to be ready for him."

Part of that readiness includes dabbling in art, although Ruiz said he was doubly motivated to draw Jones' likeness on the poster as a way of inspiring his opponent.

"(I did it) to prove I'm not nervous for this fight," Ruiz said of his artwork. "I want him at his best."

Either way, Ruiz expects to win and has his own motivation driving his training efforts.

"I'm training real hard because I know that if I lose, I'm out," he said. "I'm going out there to win and I know I'm going to win.

"It feels good."

Louie Padilla, fighting out of Barry's Boxing gym in Las Vegas, won the National Silver Gloves championship at 85 pounds last week in Lenexa, Kansas. Padilla, 15, one of three brothers that trains at Barry's, was the only Nevada competitor to reach the finals. ... State Golden Gloves championships will be contested March 29-30 at the Golden Gloves Gym in North Las Vegas, with Regional competition slated for April 26-27 at the Orleans and the National finals May 26-31 at the Orleans. ... Although he lost his most recent fight to drop to 75-14-5, Jorge Paez will replace the injured Sirimongkol Singmanassuk of Thailand and fight Jesus Chavez in the main event of Top Rank's March 22 card at Mandalay Bay.

Fres Oquendo vs. Mo Harris has been added to the March 1 Thomas & Mack Center card. ... After saying he would fight featherweight king Marco Antonio Barrera on April 12, WBC super bantamweight champ Oscar Larios decided to keep his belt and stay at 122 pounds. ... Light heavyweight Derrick Harmon of Las Vegas has signed to face Dariusz Michalczewski on March 29 in Hamburg, Germany. Harmon is 23-3 and coming off a TKO-2 victory over Tim Littles Nov. 3 in Friant, Calif. "He's exactly the kind of opponent that we need," said Michalczewski's promoter, Klaus-Peter Kohl. ... Disgraced figure skating queen Tonya Harding makes her professional boxing debut vs. fellow newcomer Samantha Browning as part of Saturday's Mike Tyson card in Memphis. "I'm ready to step into the ring with this girl," said Harding, adding that she has put on 15 pounds since her skating days and now weighs 120. "I'm in the best shape of my life."