Jones vs Ruiz Tonight

[Blackadar]

Anyone else really want to watch this fight? I'm jazzed...watching Roy Jones, Jr. - the best fighter I've ever seen - in what may be his greatest challenge.

I think it goes Jones by decision.

[cmp]

I'm also thinking that Jones will win by decision. At least I hope he does.

[FBPro]

Yawn

[bbor]

I'd love to watch this...but alas i don't pay for tv.....it's against my religion :)

[JeeberD]

Dammit, have to work tonight, so I won't be able to see it. Not that I would pay for Pay-per-view. Would have found a bar that had it on..

[The_herd]

Originally posted by Blackadar

I think it goes Jones by decision.

I agree, I don't see Ruiz knocking jones out, and I don't think jones has enough power to knock out ruiz. although anything could happen in this fight.

[DeToxRox]

I think this is going to be an amazing fight.

If the fights even close, Jones gets the decesion, so Ruiz needs a KO. Ruiz also has everything to lose, so I expect him to try and take Roy out.

[sabotai]

I think both fighters have everything to lose and everything to gain.

If Ruiz wins, he keeps his belt and gains a lot of credibility for beating one of the best fights today.

If Jones wins, he'll cement his status has one of the greatest fighters, pound-fo-pound.

If Ruiz loses, he goes down as a heavyweight champ who lost to a light heavyweight and cements his status as a medicore champ.

If Jones loses, he loses a lot of prestige. He's claimed he can take on the heavyweights, and if he loses to a mediocre champ, it shows he can't perform at all above hsi weight class.

SHould be interesting. I'm picking Ruiz to win. I might have picked Jones ahd he fought and won in the heavyweight division to gain some practice. Instead he's going for a champ. Ruiz may be a mediocre champ, but he's still a champion and he knows how to fight against a heavyweight, Jones doesn't.

[Blackadar]

I think I'll actually buy a fight for the first time ever.

[SirFozzie]

Ruiz in a late match knockout.

Jones will befuddle Ruiz for the first five or so rounds.. then Ruiz catches him flush and gets Jones on the back foot and from there it's just a matter of time.

[Bee]

I'm seriously considering buying the fight. I've only bought PPV fights when I got together with a bunch of other guys to watch it, but I don't have anything planned for doing that with this fight. Even so, I am giving serious consideration to buying the fight anyway.

[Blackadar]

I don't think that Jones has ever been knocked down. He's tough to hit anyway, but I think his chin is underappreciated.

[Blackadar]

I decided at the last minute that I'm not buying it for $50. Think I'll buy OOTP 5 instead, find out the outcome of the fight on ESPN.COM and watch the replay next Saturday night on HBO.

[Anthony]

good call. you'll get more bang for your buck, pardon the pun.

[couriers]

For: history in the making considering the circumstances

Against: $50 is a lot of money to not go anywhere or to not even get a ticket stub.

[Blackadar]

If anyone's watching, can they update us?

[bosshogg23]

Im not watching but I am listening. Intros are happening now, 11:47 EST. Listen to it here Roy Jones vs. John Ruiz (http://www.bbc.co.uk/fivelive/live/surestream.ram)

Ruiz wins round 1, hurt Jones according to the BBC. Jones went toe to toe with him for awhile it sounds like.

Jones wins round 2, according to the BBC he boxed as opposed to slug, looked fast.

[cmp]

Originally posted by bosshogg23
Im not watching but I am listening. Intros are happening now, 11:47 EST. Listen to it here Roy Jones vs. John Ruiz (http://www.bbc.co.uk/fivelive/live/surestream.ram)

Thanks for the link.

[couriers]

ditto

[bosshogg23]

Ruiz wins round 1, hurt Jones according to the BBC. Jones went toe to toe with him for awhile it sounds like.

Jones wins round 2, according to the BBC he boxed as opposed to slug, looked fast

Jones wins round 3, jabbed all round, took the fight to Ruiz. Apparently his best round so far.

Jones wins round 4. Ruiz is trying to body punch his way inside the throw head shots. Ruiz MAY have a slight cut above his eye. Couple great shots late, Jones hurt Ruiz.

Jones wins round 5. "Ruiz is just not able to find anything resembling a target with a power shot" the BBC says. "CLEARLY ahead" 3-1 they also said. "Ruiz is on the end of a beating". Jones tired the last minute.

[atatange1]

Thanks for the link 'hogg.

[PilotMan]

Great Link...thanks...Go Roy!

[bosshogg23]

*All quotes are from the BBC announcer*

Ruiz wins round 1, hurt Jones according to the BBC. Jones went toe to toe with him for awhile it sounds like.

Jones wins round 2, according to the BBC he boxed as opposed to slug, looked fast

Jones wins round 3, jabbed all round, took the fight to Ruiz. Apparently his best round so far.

Jones wins round 4. Ruiz is trying to body punch his way inside the throw head shots. Ruiz MAY have a slight cut above his eye. Couple great shots late, Jones hurt Ruiz.

Jones wins round 5. "Ruiz is just not able to find anything resembling a target with a power shot" the BBC says. "CLEARLY ahead" 3-1 they also said. "Ruiz is on the end of a beating". Jones tired the last minute.

Almost too close to call IMO. If I had to choose based on listening, Ruiz wins barely. 4-2 Jones. "Ruiz clearly cut above the left eye". Ruiz came on late, close round, 4-5 clean punches. *edit BBC has Jones up 5-1, I have it 4-2*

Jones wins round 7. Jones is tired but Ruiz wasnt active enough to win the round. Slowest so far. 5-2 on my card, 6-1 BBC.

Jones wins round 8. Ruiz sticks to his plan to body punch. Jones has jabbed considerably more than in past fights. Action has again slowed. 6-2 on my card, 7-1 BBC.

Jones wins round 9. "Ruiz just isnt doing anything". Jones opens it up a little bit. Throws several more hooks. Ruiz has to knock out Jones to win. 7-2 on my card, 8-1 BBC.

Ruiz wins round 10. Ruiz has a very good combination early in the round. Hit Jones 6-7 times after leading with 2 jabs. "Jones has clearly lessened in his speed". "Jones is smiling condescendingly at the champion". 7-3 on my card, 8-2 BBC, Al Berstein of ESPN 9-1.

Jones wins round 11. Jones on the ropes part of the round, didnt appear to be hurt. "Blood oozing from the nose of the champion(Ruiz)". 8-3 on my card, 9-2 BBC, Al Berstein of ESPN 10-1.

Jones wins round 12. Lots of backpedaling. Jones showing off for the crowd, dancing, smiling. Soon to be announced WBA champ of the world, Roy Jones Jr. 9-3 on my card, 10-2 BBC, 11-1 Al Bernstein.

[primelord]

They just showed an update on sports center/ It says Jones hasn't lost any of the rounds yet.

[cmp]

Jones wins by decision.

[PilotMan]

116-112
117-111
118-110

Roy Jones JR!!!!!!

[bosshogg23]

Unanimous decison, 116-112, 117-111, 118-110, Roy Jones Jr. wins!

So 8-4, 9-3, 10-2 were the rounds according to the judges.

Good for Jones Jr. I picked Ruiz by KO in 10. Glad to see I was wrong(so very very wrong).

[Neuqua]

Wow.

I love Jones Jr. but even I had my doubts. The man is a monster!

Neuqua

[Blackadar]

Wohoo! I called it!

[cthomer5000]

cool. I'm not much of a boxing fan, but I've found Roy Jones Jr. pretty intruiging. This should help spice things up with Lennox Lewis.

[JeeberD]

Hell yeah. When I first got into my car after work I thought that they said that Ruiz had retained the title, but after a little drinking I got back into the car and heard the real result. I'm so glad that Jones won...

[HornedFrog Purple]

HFP made enough money to preorder cm4. :)

Good fight with some action and a lot of lull, more because Ruiz would not fire away, not that I blame him because Jones made him pay just about every time he did. This was a boxing clinic pure and simple.

Roy Jones just drips charisma something the heavyweight division needs badly.... err ok good charisma. Roy looked good at 199, I don't know if he could put on another 10-15 lbs which he would almost have to do to fight Lewis I think.

Now Wlad just needs to win next Saturday.

[Blackadar]

I've always said that Jones is the best fighter I've ever seen - he has the complete package. Power, quickness, hand speed, defense, showmanship...everything. I'm a Hagler fan, but I think Jones would have kicked the ever livin' shit out of Hagler, Hearns, Duran and Leonard. Each one of those guys had a flaw that Jones could expose.

In my book, the best pound-for-pound...ever.

[PilotMan]

Originally posted by Blackadar
I've always said that Jones is the best fighter I've ever seen - he has the complete package. Power, quickness, hand speed, defense, showmanship...everything. I'm a Hagler fan, but I think Jones would have kicked the ever livin' shit out of Hagler, Hearns, Duran and Leonard. Each one of those guys had a flaw that Jones could expose.

In my book, the best pound-for-pound...ever.

I could not have said it better myself, I agree 100%.

[JeeberD]

Hmm, according to ESPN.com, Jones' heavyweight fight was a one time affair.

"Jones became the first light heavyweight champion to win the heavyweight title since Michael Spinks did it in 1985 against Larry Holmes.

But he said he doubted he would remain champion long. Jones, who weighed 199 before the fight, said his move to the heavyweight ranks was likely a one-time deal.

'I didn't want to become a heavyweight,'' Jones said. 'I just wanted one fight. I have to see what's on the table for me.'"

and

"Jones became the lightest fighter to win a heavyweight title since 182-pound Floyd Patterson beat Archie Moore in 1956. But he was not likely to remain in the heavyweight ranks, saying before the fight his move up in weight was a one-time affair."

I wonder if this is true or he was just saying this to get more people to buy the fight on pay-per-view?

[JerseyShore]

I believe Jones is telling the truth about this being a one-time deal. He seems to be a guy that knows how to pick his fights and he saw this fight with Ruiz as a great oppurtunity in which he could succeed. I don't see him fighting as a heavyweight again. He won his fight, proved to the world he is the best pound for pound boxer there is and now will leave the heavyweight ranks after one fight.

[sabotai]

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say I was not impressed with Jones as much as everyone else.

Everytime Ruiz tried to get Jones against the ropes or in a corner, he did, almost without exception. The only problem is, for the first 5 or 6 rounds, he only tried once or twice. Then in the later rounds, he either tried right away or tried at the end of the round, and then just stood in the middle of the ring while Jones moved around him.

It wasn't that Ruiz couldn't have beaten him, it was that he was unwilling to beat him. If you watch, you'll see Ruiz move his upper body a lot, but watch his feet. He picks up his front foot to take a step, but he doesn't take a step, he puts his foot back down where it was. He didn't move at all. If he had stepped forward, instead of standing in place, he would have gotten Jones on the ropes A LOT MORE than he did.

Even though Ruiz didn't push and attack Jones a lot, once a round on average, Jones was still tired by the later round.

Had Ruiz done what he was supposed to do, I think he would have won the fight, or at least made it close. But instead he tried to play the part of the counter-puncher against a guy much quicker than he. If anyone is to blame, it's his trainers.

His trainers just did a piss poor job of telling him what he needed to do. And then they blamed it on the ref, which in turn made Ruiz blame it on the ref. All of the things they complained about did not happen. Ruiz claimed the ref would not let him punch out of clinches, which was completely wrong. When they would clinch, Ruiz would just lean against him. He didn't even try to puch out. The ref gave him plenty of time, and he did nothing with it.

Ruiz had all the time in the world to win this fight. He just didn't want to win.

Jones, for his part, did what he always does, and that's beat the hell out of someone. He fought his fight, Ruiz let him fight his fight, and so Jones won his fight.

IMO, Jones would not stand a chance against Lewis or Vlad. They are just too big and too strong. They would do what Ruiz should have done, and they would do it 10 times better.

Besides, Jones will never fight either of them, so it doesn't really matter. I would like to see him fight Byrd, and then he'll have 2/3rds of the titles, and then a match with Lewis would make sence. And I would pay to see it. But I don't think Jones could ever beat Lewis or Vlad.

[Blackadar]

<b>IMO, Jones would not stand a chance against Lewis or Vlad. They are just too big and too strong. They would do what Ruiz should have done, and they would do it 10 times better.</b>

I think that Ruiz is the limit of what Jones can realistically fight. I don't think he could hurt Lewis or Vlad and the reach disadvantage would be huge. But asking him to fight Lewis is like asking the "Golden Boy" to fight Jones at Light Heavyweight.

[The_herd]

I agree, I think Ruiz was a fight picked almost perfectly for Jones, and he took care of him. I don't think he would be able to handle a fighter with more power, and Lewis is just too big for jones. There's just not very many good heavy weights he could stay in the ring with for 12 rounds.

[HornedFrog Purple]

The funny thing is Jones is not heavily outclassed in size by any of these guys who are considered top heavyweights:

Chris Byrd?
David Tua?
Evander Holyfield?
Hasim Rahman?
Jameel McCline?
Mike Tyson?

Guys that would outsize him:
Lennox Lewis
Both Klitschkos
Kirk Johnson

Holyfield and Spinks lasted quite a while in the heavyweight division winning on points. Suggesting Jones is out of his league in the heavyweight division minus 4 or 5 fighters is a bit of a stretch. He could beat any of those guys up top who he could reasonably match up with size-wise and they with the exception of Tyson are ranked in the overall top-10 generally.

[Blackadar]

I think Tua and Tyson would be tough due to their power.

[The_herd]

Tyson, Tua, and Byrd would most likely handle him. Spinks and holyfield both were bigger than jones, even after buffing up 30lbs for this match.

[MikeVic]

Who's "Vlad"?

[bosshogg23]

Wladimir Klitschko(Vladimir sometimes).

I think Jones Jr. vs. Byrd would be a great fight. Byrd has really taken quite a bit of his style from Jones. I cant imagine a scenario where Jones fights Lewis or a Klitschko. I can see him fighting Holyfield and I believe he will stay as a heavyweight for a few fights and then retire.

[BishopMVP]

I don't buy what Jones said for a minute about this being his only heavyweight fight. Who does Jones fight next if he moves down? Only two people left would be De La Hoya at a catch weight, and I think it would be harder to go down in weight than up or Michalzewski, but both Roy and the German seem too opposed to crossing the ocean (Jones rightfully so).

That basically leaves either retiring or staying at heavyweight. At heavyweight, the 4 fights I could see him taking are Holyfield, Byrd, Tyson and Lewis. I think he would beat Holyfield fairly easily, probably even easier than the Ruiz fight. Byrd would probably be the best fight, but would it sell enough? Tyson would definitely sell, but it seems like Mike is looking for one more shot at Lennox Lewis, and a loss to Roy Jones could detract from that. I would give Lewis 10-1 odds against Jones, but if Jones wants to go out with bang and the chance to be proven as the best fighter ever, I think he would do it. If I had to pick one, money would be on him fighting Holyfield next, since the weight isn't much of a difference and Jones knows he should win that one. I just hope that his pride factors in and he wants the chance to prove doubters wrong enough to step up against Lewis.