Third time the charm in Germany for Ruiz

Posted on | August 24, 2008 | No Comments

LAS VEGAS (August 22, 2008) – Two-time World Boxing Association heavyweight champion John “The Quietman” Ruiz (43-7-1, 29 KOs) broke Las Vegas training camp today and he departed for Germany in quest of his third world title. Ruiz is traveling with his advisor and attorney, Tony Cardinale, and head trainer, Manny Siaca, Sr.

The WBA vacated the title due to an injury to Ruslan Chagaev, declaring him “champion in recess,” and ruled that the top two rated contenders fight for the title. Ruiz, rated No. 2 by the WBA, takes on the No. 1 contender, 7-0, 320-pound Nikolai Valuev (48-1, 34 KOs), who won a controversial 12-round split decision 2 ½ years ago against defending champion Ruiz, on August 30 in Berlin for the WBA crown.

Ruiz also lost a majority decision to Chagaev in Germany. “I believe the third time will be the charm – my first win fighting for the third time in Germany – and I’ll bring home my third world championship belt,” Ruiz said before he left. “I heard that Valuev has been swimming to train for our fight. Good. He’s going to need that because I’m taking him into deep water before knocking the giant out. Timber! The deeper the fight, the deeper the water’s going to be for him. I know what I can do to him. I beat him the first time but they gave him the decision.

“Everything about training camp was good. I worked very hard to get ready for this fight. I’ve been working on a lot of stuff with Manny like more balanced punching and a few new moves. When we get into the ring I want him to be thinking about what he’s going to do with me. He’s not going to fight the same guy he did the first time. You can’t let him stand there or he’ll throw punches all night long. I’m going to take the fight to him and make him move around. I’m going to stay on him, surround him, and show him different angles and more combination punching.”

The Puerto Rican-American Ruiz is the first and only Latino heavyweight champion of the world. He has fought in 10 world championship fights and defeated three world heavyweight champions — Evander Holyfield, Hasim Rahman and Tony Tucker – in addition to beating top contenders such as Andrew Golota, Fres Oquendo, Kirk Johnson and Jameel McCline during his 15-year pro career.