After watching the WBA heavyweight champion of the world, John "The Quietman" Ruiz work nine rounds with five different sparring partners who varied quite a bit in height and weight, I must confess that I became worried.

Let me come clean right now... I have never been a big John Ruiz fan, but I am worried, very worried about what could happen to my buddy RJJ. It was an eye opening experience to actually see Ruiz in the ring with guys 20, 30 lbs. lighter than he, and several inches shorter... Oh my, the way he was corralling them against the ropes, pushing them off like they were rag dolls, making them pay every time they had contact... The body work was painful to watch, and frankly, I just don't know how these fighters managed to weather the storm called John Ruiz; forget "The Quietman," the champ turned into a "Quiet Storm."

I noticed that Ruiz allowed the lighter guys to hit him rather easily, by design. One particular partner had a nice, stiff jab which he poked in Ruiz's face several times. Want to know what happened when Ruiz got hit? NOTHING! That's what happened, absolutely nothing. The punches from lighter fighters never moved Ruiz, never shook him, or took him off his game plan.

There is a transformation that takes place with some fighters, and Ruiz is a perfect example of that. When you talk to John Ruiz, he is the most polite, soft spoken guy you'd ever want to meet. I watched him tonight as he signed autographs, posed for pictures with well wishers, answered some not very bright questions and through it all never lost his cool, the pleasant smile never far from his lips.

However, when the music in the gym was turned off, and Norman Stone shouted his first instructions, which were: "Don't touch gloves, go right at him," I looked at the champ's eyes as he came across the ring, straight at his sparring partner, and there was something almost surreal about that moment. I've relived it many times since I left the gym... The nice guy turned into a stalking, feline-like creature. It gave me goose bumps, looking at his eyes, they were much like a shark's, seemingly void of feeling... The first man up in the ring got hit to the body and almost went through the ropes. It was on!

It was surprising to see Ruiz feinting, moving, giving angles. It was another story when he let his hands go; the left hooks in particular, they did damage. John threw some nice uppercuts too, and towards the end of the 9-round punch fest, Ruiz reverted back to his mauling style, particularly when facing the bigger guys.

After the grueling session was over and Ruiz cooled off a bit, we had our chance to interview the heavyweight champion of the world. This is what we talked about.

BRC: Champ, it's been reported that you really don't think Roy Jones, Jr. is going to fight you? Is that a true statement and if so, do you still feel that way?

RUIZ: Well, I think that he is stuck in a corner now. I think he has nothing to do but to come out fighting, except if the "unthinkable" happens... he gets hurt... (LAUGHING)... which is possible, it's possible. But, hey, I'm looking forward to the fight...

BRC: Is it fair to say that when Roy set the terms for this fight he never thought you would accept them?

RUIZ: Oh, definitely... He threw so many things out there. At first he only wanted $8 million guaranteed; we said fine, give to him. All of a sudden there was a turnaround, now he wanted $10 million guaranteed and he wasn't quite sure that we were willing to accept those deals that he wanted, those outrageous deals... and we just stepped up to the plate, and we said, 'You want the fight? Let's fight; whatever you want, take it."

BRC: And when you did that, I think that you put Roy Jones in a place where he has never been before. Do you agree with me?

RUIZ: Most definitely, he's in a corner and he doesn't know what to do now. He is wondering how to get out of it, without losing face...

BRC: If he does pull out he is going to lose a lot of face and a big fan base, agree?

RUIZ: Definitely. That's what people like about this... Roy talks a lot and basically if he doesn't show up this time around, since he is doing all the talking, if all of a sudden he doesn't want to fight, people are going to see right through him.

BRC: It's my understanding that the Puerto Rican people, back in the Island, have really embraced you now. Once upon a time, if the reports were correct, the feeling towards you was somewhat, shall we say, lukewarm, as some said you were not really Puerto Rican. Please tell me how you feel about this issue.

RUIZ: I think that the Puerto Ricans in general embrace me. It's just that for some reason Tito's camp did not want me to... It's something that caught me by surprise you know, one day a reporter came up to me and said Tito's father said this... and I was like.. What? I had just talked to him a couple of weeks prior, and he was wishing me well and to hear that, I didn't know what to say, I was in shock. But I am a fan of Tito, he is a great fighter and I don't take anything away from him and his family, so my thing is I don't need somebody else to tell me that I am not, because I know inside that I am.

BRC: Were you upset at all about the controversy stirred up by don Felix (Trinidad Sr.) when they awarded you the Best Puerto Rican Fighter of the Year 2001 award in Puerto Rico?

RUIZ: Well, I try not to let things like that bother me. Tito and I are good friends, and I don't need anybody telling me what I am. I know who I am and I know what I am.

(**Editor's Note: John's mother still resides in Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico, where John was mobbed by over 15,000 adoring fans a short time ago. Although born in Boston, Massachusetts, Ruiz has always identified with his Puerto Rican heritage).

BRC: Do you think that Felix has retired for good?

RUIZ: Well, you don't never know. Well, he's made a lot of money and if I was in the same position, in his position, I'd also be retired. You want to get out young, while you can still enjoy life a little bit more.

BRC: What does it mean to you to be the first Latino heavyweight champion of the world?

RUIZ: It's a great honor for me. It's something that I never... thinking back on the history of boxing, you see so many great Latino champions, there was never a heavyweight champion. It was a great accomplishment for me, not only to win the heavyweight championship but specially fighting against Holyfield, but also to become the first Latino ever to do it. There is great pride in that...

BRC: Let's get back to the fight. How will you fight RJJ? I guess it's safe to say that he is counting on his speed to stay out of harm's way...

RUIZ: Yeah, he has speed, he is a quick mover, he moves around a lot. My main thing is to stay on him and maybe he'll start slowing down between the fifth or sixth round, that's where he is gonna start getting into trouble.

BRC: Do you think that the disparity in the level of the competition he has fought lately versus yours will play a role in the fight?

RUIZ: I don't know... He is a fighter, he comes to fight. I don't know what to expect from him other than he is going to move around a lot and basically use his speed but I'm hoping Roy Jones will come to fight; I know he is getting ready to fight, so we'll just have to wait for March 1st. My main thing is to focus on myself, making sure I'm in top shape and ready to fight for twelve rounds.

BRC: How heavy do you think you will be on fight night?

RUIZ: Actually, I am hoping to drop some weight. I'm hoping to come in around 225 lbs., just to rely on my feet and to be able to move around a whole lot faster.

BRC: I know that you have been sparring with guys a lot lighter than you are used to, guys around 170 or so. How different has that been for you?

RUIZ: Yeah, you are right. We are used to sparring with some big guys, around 230, 240, just to get the strength, pushing them around and so on... These guys I'm sparring with now they are movers. It makes for a whole different atmosphere where I'm not just using the ring basically to find someone, I'm gonna have to chase somebody down.

BRC: I'm curious about your fight with Kirk Johnson, the outcome of it. Do you feel that basically Kirk was just trying to quit and that's why he kept fouling you?

RUIZ: Well, I think so, because the last time that he hit me below the belt before the referee disqualified him, he just turned around and walked to his corner; and that's where the referee stopped the fight, because he realized that Johnson did not want to fight anymore.

He was just looking for a way to get out of the fight, I was about a round away from winning by TKO... He was hurt and didn't want anymore.

BRC: Your toughest fight?

RUIZ: I'd say the Holyfield fights, they've all been pretty tough. All three fights were equally hard.

BRC: What is the thing that you remember the most about the Holyfield trilogy? Is there a particular moment that sticks out for you?

RUIZ: The second fight, when I actually put him down. It was a big surprise for me; Holyfield is a warrior, the knockdown caught me off guard, seeing him go down and realizing that he was hurt... It shocked me for a little while, then I just had to kick in to try and finish up the fight.

BRC: Were you surprised that Evander survived that round?

RUIZ: I was very surprised that he managed to hang in there. I wasn't going to take any chances on the twelve rounds. I wanted to go in and try to finish it also, but, knowing him, I knew he probably still had some energy left in him, I didn't want him to catch me by surprise.

BRC: I understand that you have set up your own charity called "Champ's Corner." Would you like to tell me about it?

RUIZ: My thing is trying to help out the homeless, the homeless vets also. It's something that I feel... people that have fought for our country end up coming back and being homeless, which is not right. They put their lives on the line just to come back to be living in the streets, which if anything they should be living in these million dollar homes, not like myself and other athletes and so on. These guys have given us the freedom to express ourselves; they deserve better, and I want to help better their lives.

BRC: I also know that you have visited a lot of schools, and that you enjoy talking to the children. What is the message that you convey to them?

RUIZ: The message is to stay positive; if you have a dream, to follow your dream. That's the main thing, and stay away from drugs and alcohol, and bad things like that. My dream... boxing saved my life, growing up in the streets where there was drugs, alcohol, gangs, and everything like that around me, and boxing took me away from all that. That's the message we try to send.

BRC: How did boxing take you away from all the negative stuff?

RUIZ: Basically, I started boxing when I was 7 years old, and from then on I used to get up and run in the morning before school, and after school go to the gym and after the gym do my homework and go to sleep for the next day. So basically boxing became like an all day thing. That's what I did instead of just hanging in the street corners with the guys and getting in trouble.

BRC: What would beating Roy Jones Jr. mean to you? Is this fight about recognition? Respect? Money? What is it about for you?

RUIZ: It means a lot, it means I would be a step closer to my dream. Unification of the title, something I wanna do before I move on with my life. My first dream was to become heavyweight champion, my second dream is to unify the titles, and after that I just want to spend time with my kids.

BRC: What do you want your legacy to be?

RUIZ: I just want to go out there, hoping I can change a few people's minds where they have all this negativity towards me and I hope one day after I retire they will look back and just consider me... I'm not looking for 'a great champion,' but 'a good champion'... I'm not looking for much, just want to get some recognition, that I was a good champion when they had all these great fighters out there.

BRC: A message for the fans?

RUIZ: (Very animated, excited, an impish smile crossing his face) I want to say that it's going to be a great fight, one of those where you are expecting everything, there is going to be movement, punches, hard punches, maybe you'll see... well, you'll see so many things. People don't know what's gonna happen. All I can say is stay tuned, that's the whole thing. Many people out there, they figure, what's gonna happen? When these two collide, who's gonna win? I'm gonna leave it at that, so we can keep that momentum going.

Bragging Rights Corner wishes to thank Bob Trieger, Ron Heard, and most of all Norman Stone and John Ruiz for having made this interview possible. We wish Team Ruiz the best of luck in the upcoming fight and all future endeavors.

OPEN WORKOUT INFORMATION:

WHEN: Sunday, February 16, 12 NOON

WHERE: Collins Park 22nd St. & the beach, Miami Beach, FL

South Florida boxing fans are welcome to come and watch John Ruiz work out in an open ring set up by the beach.

2-08-03