To say that Stoney is over protective of Ruiz may not be a fair statement, although I've often heard it said. Norman Stone's relationship with John Ruiz goes a lot deeper than that. They are very close, and Ruiz has absolute trust in his manager, who by the way, calls all the shots. When Norman talks about 'Johnny,' as he dearly refers to the champion, he does it with great pride and absolute confidence. Nothing else seems to matter to Stoney when he speaks about John Ruiz.
We had a chance to chat with Stoney some days ago, very mindful of the disdain Norman feels for repetitious and senseless questions. This is what we talked about...
STONEY: Well, you know, the funny part about that is... Roy Jones called ME! He called me from Oregon, the night before his last fight. He said, Stoney,' let's make that fight. Don't believe the press, don't believe all the bullshit, I'm telling you the fight will happen."
STONEY: Well, with so many things that people say... 'he is not going to show up,' or 'the fight is not going to happen'... you know what I'm saying? So I called him back about two weeks later to ask, what's the story? He said: "Stoney, the fight is gonna happen."
He wanted to fly me down and introduce me and announce the fight, but I said, "Nah, I don't wanna go to Oregon, there is nothing out there anyways." So, he called me back two weeks after that and said: "I know you are hearing all this bullshit, all this stuff. I want the fight, I'm gonna take the fight."
In my heart I gotta trust the guy. I'm a man of my word, obviously he turned out to be a man of his word.
STONEY: I don't care, I really don't. Any state we go to, referees have a job to do, that's their job to do, and they gotta do what they've done. Everybody says the last guy was on our side... How can he be on our side? He stopped us from a knockout! And the fight before, the Holyfield fight, that referee stopped us from a knockout. (Joe Cortez was the referee in both instances).
They can say what they wanna say about who the referee should be, as long as Nevada picks it, I'm fine with it. Same for the judges, but we are not going to need judges. We are not going to the score cards, and you can count on it.
If you look at a guy when he boxes... and he's got gloves on, right?... we are always re-taping Johnny's hands... so, that means, Johnny is always trying to pull his glove out. If Johnny was holding, the tape wouldn't come off. This fight is gonna be a lot easier for us in a way that Johnny is not going to be held, he is not going to be mauled... Johnny is gonna box Roy Jones.
STONEY: We use 20's, 20 ounce gloves. Not the sparring partners though, just Johnny, I don't want anybody getting hurt.
STONEY: (Jumping right in...) You know, there is a lot of flaws in a lot of fighters, but you have to have the ability to capitalize on what they are going to do wrong. Take for instance, Shane Mosley. Everybody was putting him as the greatest fighter pound for pound, all this other stuff...he hops in all the time. Vernon stuck his ground and every time he came in, he hit him with the jab; jab, step over, right hand. I always said that a good fighter would beat Mosley.
This is the same with Roy Jones, the same thing happened with Hamed and Barrera... He closes his eyes, Roy closes his eyes a lot. Montell Griffin probably hit him more in six rounds than anybody ever hit him in his whole life. Montell Griffin is 5'3", 5'4"...
STONEY: (Screaming in disbelief) 5'11"??!!?? He is not taller than me!!
STONEY: Me.
STONEY: Yes, it was. I've taken every fight... if it was Holyfield and he didn't have the name, if it was Roy Jones and he didn't have the name, Johnny has never asked me who he is fighting, never, ever, ever!
STONEY: (Without skipping a beat) Johnny Ruiz.
STONEY: He is like my son. I've been with him since he was 16 years old, he is 31, we've been together 15 years. I've been to every fight with him, everything...
STONEY: Positively! Not a lot of other people did, but I did. I believed in him, I believed that he could do it. We are the only ones ever, so far, that have been together since his first amateur fight, all the way through to heavyweight champion of the world, and it's been a lot of ups and downs, and you know something? We joke more than anyone, people look at Johnny and say, 'Oh, he doesn't say nothing...' But, when we are alone? Forget it!
When he was a kid we used to count how many times he would say hi to people. When he comes in the gym, he doesn't have to say hi, he's working, that's his job, and the people around me understand that. Don't forget, all of the six people that are here, they've been here since day one too. No one has changed.
STONEY: DON'T GO TO LUNCH! DON'T GET A DRINK DURING THE FIGHT 'CUZ ROY IS GONNA BE GONE!!
Like a true gentleman he thanked me back, accepted my apology and extended an invitation to meet up with Team Ruiz during their open workout in Miami on February 16.
I would like to thank Bob Trieger, Ron Herd, and most of all Norman Stone for having made this Q&A session possible.
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.
Norman Stone is one of boxing more colorful characters, rough at the edges perhaps, but a man with a kind heart and an intense dislike for the New York Yankees, I may add. He has stood by WBA heavyweight champion John Ruiz through thick and thin for many years. Much to his credit, Norman Stone is one of the very few people who ever believed John Ruiz would achieve his present pugilistic status.
BRC: Can you tell me what went through your mind when you heard that Roy Jones, Jr. wanted to fight John Ruiz?
BRC: What did you think? Were you surprised?
BRC: In a recent teleconference, "Merkie" (Alton Merkerson-Roy Jones Jr.'s trainer), expressed some concerns about Ruiz mauling and using otherwise dirty tactics come fight night... Merkie also said that he feels comfortable letting Mr. Ratner and the Nevada State Athletic Commission pick the right referee for this fight. Care to comment? And also, if you had your pick of a referee, who would it be?
BRC: What size gloves were they using during the sparring session?
BRC: I read that you had made some comments about having watched tape on Lou del Valle's knockdown of Roy Jones... and that you were salivating, because you saw a lot of flaws...
BRC: Roy is listed as 5'11"....
BRC: Please tell me who made the final decision on taking this fight?
BRC: Was it all your decision?
BRC: Who is your favorite fighter of all times?
BRC: What has made you stick with John throughout all the years?
BRC: Did you know that this time was going to come for Johnny?
BRC: Do you have a message for the fans? What should they look for in this fight?
With that remark, the crowd of friends and well wishers that had assembled around us roared with laughter. I shook Norman Stone's hand, thanked him for his hospitality and once again apologized for having been a thorn on his side earlier this week.
2-08-03
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