Evander Holyfield vs.

John Ruiz John Ruiz (born January 4, 1972) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2010, and held the WBA heavyweight title twice between 2001 and 2005. Ruiz is of Puerto Rican descent, and is the first Latino boxer to win a w ...

, billed as ''Justice'', was a professional boxing match contested on August 12, 2000 for the vacant WBA heavyweight championship.

Background

After Lennox Lewis defeated Evander Holyfield at the second attempt to become the undisputed heavyweight champion, the WBA ordered Lewis to face its top contender John Ruiz, where as Lewis wanted to first defend his titles against WBC and

IBF The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...

number two contender Michael Grant. The WBA and Lewis agreed that he would fight Grant first followed by Ruiz. Ruiz's promoter Don King challenged the decision in court and a clause was found in Lewis' contract that stated the winner of the Holyfield–Lewis fight would first defend his titles against the WBA's number one contender. Because of this, Lewis was stripped of his WBA title. The WBA chose Holyfield to face Ruiz for the vacant WBA Heavyweight title.

The fight

Ruiz was aggressive throughout the fight landing many effective jabs, and except for late in the third round, he was never really in any serious trouble from Holyfield. Judges Duane Ford and Dave Moretti scored the fight 114–113, while Judge Fernando Viso scored it 116–112 giving Evander Holyfield victory by unanimous decision to become the first boxer in history to be the World Heavyweight Champion four times.

Controversy

The decision was controversial as many observers and boxing reporters felt that the underdog Ruiz had done enough to win. In interviews after the fight Ruiz said "It was highway robbery without a gun,... I won the fight and he knows I won the fight...I had control of the fight. I am very surprised by the judges' decision. I don't know what fight they saw." Showtime commentators described the decision as "absurd" and "ridiculous".

Aftermath

Due to this controversial decision, an immediate

rematch ''Rematch'' is the first US-released Sammy Hagar compilation album. After Sammy left Capitol Records for Geffen in 1981, and after Rick Springfield had a hit with the Hagar-penned "I've Done Everything for You", this collection was released to ...

was ordered to take place in early 2001

Undercard

Confirmed bouts:

Broadcasting

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holyfield, Ruiz 2000 in boxing 2000 in sports in Nevada August 2000 sports events in the United States Boxing matches in Las Vegas Ruiz Holyfield World Boxing Association heavyweight championship matches Boxing on Showtime