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Heavyweight gamble Both Jones and Ruiz are taking risk with title fightPosted: Wednesday February 26, 2003 6:28 PMUpdated: Thursday February 27, 2003 1:54 AM
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Roy Jones Jr. will be taking the gamble of his career when he steps into the ring to try to win a piece of the heavyweight title. John Ruiz is taking a gamble of his own, and he's not even sure he'll get paid for it. Ruiz wanted a big fight so bad he agreed to defend his WBA title against Jones Saturday night with the understanding he'll get paid only if the event sells well on pay-per-view television. That partly explains why he's so peeved with Jones, who is guaranteed $10 million but has been doing little to help promote the fight. "Roy hasn't done his job," Ruiz said Wednesday. "I'm basically depending on pay-per-view buys. He has his guarantee; he can walk away with his money." Whether Ruiz walks away with some of his own depends not only on how well he can sell himself as a legitimate heavyweight champion but also on how much Jones does to attract attention to the fight. Jones hasn't done a lot since arriving in Las Vegas, blowing off a scheduled public workout and media session Tuesday and then arriving an hour late for the pre-fight press conference Wednesday. That's why promoter Don King included an Adolf Hitler imitation and a dissertation on world affairs as part of a nearly three-hour sales job of his own in a fight that largely has been overshadowed by the Mike Tyson-Clifford Etienne fiasco. "This is what makes a promoter -- you work with an empty chair," King said. "I'll call David Copperfield up here and tell him to wave that cape and make this guy appear."
"Getting Roy Jones to do this fight was the big win," said Mark Taffet, who heads HBO's pay-per-view division. "But I would always like a fighter to do more promotion." Perhaps Jones was the smart one on Wednesday, as King droned on and on at Caesars Palace. After all, this was a fight Jones didn't really want and is now having to face up to the reality that he will have to fight. "People constantly ask me why would I take this fight," Jones said. "They want to see me get hurt. They want to see me knocked out. They want to see me bleed." Ruiz would like to see all three of those things, of course, as Jones tries to become join Michael Spinks as the only fighters to win a piece of the heavyweight title while still light heavyweight champion. Oddsmakers like Jones' skills so much he's a 9-5 favorite despite giving away 35 to 40 pounds to Ruiz. Jones is expected to come into the ring at about 185 pounds to between 220 and 225 for Ruiz. "I get to see the man who's going to try and beat me," Jones said. "That's why I'm here." Spinks was outweighed by only 18 pounds -- 205 to 223 -- when he beat Holmes in September 1985 to win the heavyweight title in a huge upset. Before Spinks, 12 former or reigning light heavyweight champions tried to win the heavyweight title and all failed. Jones is regarded by many as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, but he's a relatively small fighter even by light heavyweight standards, and his chance to win against Ruiz depends on his ability to outbox Ruiz while staying away from his power and his weight. "He's a runner," Ruiz said. "He loves to run around the ring but I'll lean on him, throw the heavier punches. It will take its toll."
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Roy Jones Jr. insists he hasn't been afraid to fight as he gets ready for Saturday's bout with John Ruiz. 
