The pace of the fight was set early on in the first round which was marked by a low level of activity and prodigious clinching. In round 2 Toney tried to establish his jab while beginning to assert himself as the aggressor. Ruiz on the other hand fought largely backing up and in no way attempted to put any kind of pressure on Toney. In round 3 the tables turned as Ruiz decided to let his hands go a little, landing solid shots to Toney's body and head. In this round Ruiz was the aggressor and that seemed to give him the edge he needed to win the round. It was obvious that if Ruiz wanted to win the fight he needed to do it going forward.

In round 4 the momentum of the fight finally shifted for good in favor of James Toney. In this round Toney managed to throw six hard right hands that landed cleanly, while at the same time managing to avoid being hit in return. In fact, Ruiz was unable to get a clean hit the entire round and for the first time in the fight he looked slow and discouraged.

The rest of the fight went largely the same way with Toney landing clean right hands and Ruiz desperately trying to land something meaningful in return. As the fight went on Toney’s right hand found its mark with consistent accuracy easily winning him round after round. In round 7 Toney came out lightning fast and landed a left-right combination in the opening seconds of the round that drove Ruiz to the ground. Although credited as a knockdown the punch in no way hurt Ruiz who went down mostly to lack of balance as Toney stepped on his foot while throwing the combination.

The championship rounds were no different as Ruiz continued to eat Toney’s right hands while not doing much in return. As the final bell rang it came as no surprise to everyone at the Garden perhaps with the exception of John Ruiz that Toney’s hand was the one being raised in the end.

John Ruiz did not fight like a champion and that cost him his title. He did not press the action and was content to fight backing up for most of the fight. While Toney was definitely the clear winner in the fight he still failed to show that he can be a serious threat against the lights of Vitali Klitschko. So while this was a good win for Toney it by no means makes him the best heavyweight in the world.

After the fight, John Ruiz who was visibly shaken by the loss, announced his retirement from the sport of boxing. Regarding the fight John had this to say, “He’s a tough guy to fight. He moves around a lot. I connected a lot. I finished stronger and I won this fight.” Perhaps his decision to declare an impromptu retirement was based on emotions relating to this disappointing loss but only time can tell what his plans are for the future and whatever they are we wish him luck in all his future endeavors.