Columnist Dean Juipe: Byrd looking toward fight with Ruiz

Dean Juipe

Thursday, Jan. 9, 2003 | 9:18 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.

Without specifically predicting John Ruiz will win, Chris Byrd likes the defending World Boxing Association heavyweight champion's chances against Roy Jones Jr. when they fight March 1 at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Byrd, the International Boxing Federation heavyweight champ, will, if promoter Don King's plans materialize, fight the Ruiz vs. Jones winner.

He implies that Ruiz will be that man.

"Roy may not even admit it after the fight, but he'll find out these guys punch very, very hard," Byrd said Wednesday at Caesars Palace, where Ruiz and Jones took part in a press conference. "John is a true, big, rugged heavyweight. He may not be considered a big puncher, but he's going to become a huge puncher against a man the size of Roy Jones."

Jones, of course, is moving up two divisions to challenge Ruiz. And Byrd knows how difficult that is, having broken in as a light heavyweight before advancing through the cruiserweight division to heavyweight.

"I remember a fight I had with (cruiserweight) Uriah Grant (in 1996)," Byrd said. "Grant came into the fight at 202 pounds and I remember thinking, if he hits me on the chin it's going to be a major upset. He just brushed my face and it hurt.

"At each step, the guys hit harder and harder."

Byrd, 36-2, handles the heavyweights by fluently moving about the ring and staying elusive. He's small by heavyweight standards at 215 pounds, yet is noticeably bigger than Jones.

"If John lets Roy dictate the fight on skills alone, he'll get blown out of the water," Byrd said. "So, in that respect, the fight is difficult to judge.

"But John has an awkward style and he's a big guy that can punch. I kind of know what to expect (and) if Roy gets caught, the whole fight can change."

Byrd, who, like Ruiz, lives in Las Vegas, also gives Ruiz points for determination, saying "he's looking to gain some respect." The same was true for Byrd as he defeated David Tua and Evander Holyfield last year en route to the IBF championship.

While he has a gap in his schedule these days, Byrd said he had no plans of taking an interim fight with cruiserweight James Toney. "That's just Toney talking trash," he said of reports that Toney had challenged him.

"That's what I'm waiting on," Byrd said of getting the Ruiz-Jones winner, likely in June. "But if it takes too long, I'll fight Holyfield again or whoever wants to fight."

A fight between middleweights William Joppy and Robert Allen is likely to be added to the March 1 Thomas & Mack Center card, and one featuring WBA cruiserweight champ Jean Marc Mormeck is already pencilled in. ... A Jan. 25 card in Reno has been scrapped and headliner Michael Grant will, instead, fight Jan. 24 in Philadelphia. ... Nate Campbell, a junior lightweight hot off an impressive win over Daniel Alicea in Las Vegas, has taken the challenge of meeting ex-champ Joel Casamayor Jan. 25 in Temecula, Calif., as part of the Vernon Forrest vs. Ricardo Mayorga card. ... Another former junior lightweight champion, Diego Corrales, will return to the ring Jan. 25 in Atlantic City for an undercard bout with Freddy Cruz at 140 pounds. Corrales is 33-1 and coming off a prison stay, while Cruz is 53-33-10 and has already been belittled enough in print that he coul d get bumped off the card.

Heavyweight Wladimir Klitschko, who beat Jameel McCline here last month, will face England's Danny Williams March 8 in Germany. ... While he had said he wouldn't fight until taking on Shane Mosley in September, Oscar De La Hoya has reconsidered and is looking at a May fight against a lesser opponent in Tokyo. Promoter Bob Arum would add featherweight champ Erik Morrales to the card against an Asian opponent. ... Junior welterweight DeMarcus Corley won last Saturday's televised fight in Washington D.C. with Randall Bailey by 6, 6 and 4 points on the judges' cards. But it was a disappointing performance that drew boos from the crowd. ... One-time contender James Crayton of Las Vegas took a late assignment and was handed a loss by junior welterweight Aguilar Alvaro last Friday in Tijuana, Mexico. Crayton falls to 33-16-2 while Alvaro ups his record to 12-0.

Bernard Hopkins' scheduled fight with Morrade Hakkar, slated for Saturday in Philadelphia, is off. ... Jack Lazzarotto, an inspector with the Nevada State Athletic Commission, has been charged with felony DUI after an accident last week. But NSAC executive director Marc Ratner said Lazzarotto would be treated "innocent until proven guilty" by his department. ... The NSAC will meet Monday and among the items on the agenda is the matter of commission chairman for 2003. If current chairman Luther Mack elects to step aside, expect Flip Homansky to get the job. ... Former referee Richard Steele, who has promoted a couple of cards in New Mexico, is applying for a Nevada promoter's license. He could put a card in the new Cannery casino in North Las Vegas.