JONES MAKES HISTORY!

RINGSIDE REPORTS BY ROGER GRANDGENETT, MIKE OLIVER, BOBBY MUNDY
PHOTOS BY CHRIS COZZONE

Roy Routs Ruiz!
by Roger Grandgenett

Roy Jones, Jr., in a masterful performance, became the WBA heavyweight champion on Saturday night at the Thomas & Mack in Las Vegas, Nevada. Jones easily defeated John Ruiz and made history. The judges scored it 116-112, 117-111 and 118-110. Fightnews had it 118-110.

Jones becomes the first former middleweight to win the heavyweight title since Bob Fitzimmons in 1897. The 33 pound weight difference (27 lbs. at fight time) was no factor.

The first round of the fight caused many in the near capacity arena to believe it may be a short night. Ruiz attacked Jones and pinned him on the ropes. Later in the round, two rights by Ruiz seemed to stun Jones. The first round, however, was Ruiz's best round and Jones dominated the fight thereafter.

Ruiz never effectively attacked Jones again. Jones was able to land jabs at will and mix it up. In the 4th round, Ruiz's nose was bleeding. When Ruiz charged, Jones either tied him up effectively or countered. Jones faked, juked, and threw beautifully timed uppercuts to throw off Ruiz. A right hand by Jones staggered "The Quiet Man."

The Ruiz who we knew, the fighter that made you look ugly because he fought ugly, did not show up, or Jones made certain he did not show up. Jones rarely fought Ruiz inside and easily stayed out of harm's way as he moved unimpeded throughout the ring.

The biggest surprise of the night was that Ruiz's big weight advantage was, in reality, no advantage at all. Ruiz did not lean on Roy and make Roy feel like he was fighting a true heavyweight. It was Ruiz who fought like the light heavyweight, not Jones.

Ruiz became a bloody mess in round six and by the 11th round, was throwing few punches. In fact, while all 15,300 in the arena knew he was way behind in the fight, Ruiz never fought with urgency and ended the fight with a complete thud.

Jones improved to 48-1 and the talk after the fight, as is expected, was who Roy will fight next.

Oquendo KO's Harris!
by Bobby Mundy

In the IBF Heavyweight championship elimination bout, "Fast" Fres Oquendo (30-1, 15KOs) scored a TKO victory in the 10th round over Maurice "Mo Betta" Harris (19-13-2, 10KOs) to become the IBF #2 ranked heavyweight. Fres Oquendo was behind on all three judges score card 86-84 at the time of the stoppage.

Oquendo's inability to land his overhand right with consistency led allowed Harris to win the majority of the nine completed rounds. Harris used a very effective jab to keep Oquendo from getting set and from putting together any power punches. Harris used overhand rights of his own to keep Oquendo honest through most of the early going. But in the 4th round, Oquendo landed a big right-left combination that put Harris down for an 8 count. Harris did manage to survive the round as Oquendo could not finish him off. Harris manage to regain control of the action for the 5th through 8th rounds  and actually outboxed the slicker Oquendo. However with 2:12 into the 10th round, Oquendo landed a beautiful left hook that Harris never saw and put
him on the canvas for good. Referree Joe Cortez stopped the count before the count of 10, giving Oquendo the TKO victory.

"People know now that I am not only a slick boxer with a soft punch. I can punch as well", claimed Oquendo at the post-fight conference. " I have been in there with fighters with dangerous records and have survived. I knew I could survive him." Harris did not attend the post fight conference, therefore was unavailable for comment.

Wright Decisions Candelo
by Mike Oliver

In the IBF junior middleweight championship bout, "Winky" Wright from St. Petersburg, FL. was content to out box Juan Candelo from Barranquilla, Columbia to retain his championship. Wright would open round one by establishing his jab and using his movement to frustrate Candelo. Candelo would charge out of his corner to open round two and attempted to put pressure on Wright with wild lunging right hands. During the round Wright would land two shot below the belt, Referee Robert Byrd, however, was content to let the action continue without giving Candelo any time to recover. Each fighter would complain to Byrd during the third round. Candelo complained again about another low blow and Wright complained about Candelo leading with his head.

The best action of the fight would take place in round four as the fighters entered into a toe to toe exchange. Candelo would land the best punch of the exchange when he landed a crisp left uppercut. Wright would recover and go back to using his jab and movement for the rest of the round. By round five it became apparent that Wright was going to be content to use his movement along with his jab to control the fight. To Candelo's credit he pressed most of the action during the middle rounds, but Wright proved to be too elusive.

The late rounds would be little more than sparring rounds for Wright as the crowd turned its attention to star gazing as celebrities such as Shaquille O'neal entered the arena. The crowd almost came to life in the twelfth when Candelo fell to the canvass, but Robert Byrd quickly ruled it a slip. The fight would go to the cards. All three judges scored the fight in favor for Wright with scores of 117-111 twice and 118-110. Fightnews scored it 118-111. Final compubox stats had Candelo throwing more punches than Wright (1108 to 907) but Wright connected with more shots at 283 to 175. The win improves Wrights record to 44-4, 25 KO's and Candelo, who was the number one contender, falls to 25-5-3, 17 KO's. Unfortunatley for Wright it probably will not be the type of performance needed to convince Arum to put him in the ring with De La Hoya.

Mormeck Stops Gurov!
by Bobby Mundy

In a special cruiserweight attraction, Frenchman Jean-Marc Mormeck(29-2,21KOs) stopped Ukrainian Alexander Gurov(32-4-1, 27KOs) via an 8th round TKO, successfully defending his WBA Cruiserweight crown. Gurov was a tough individual and was the busier fighter all night long. He
controlled the action for the early part of the fight with multiple combinations while Mormeck was content with feeling him out. Mormeck did begin to wear Gurov down in the 3rd round with hard right hands as Gurov was obviously getting tired from the busy pace. Mormeck's power shots backed Gurov into the ropes several times, allowing Mormeck to whale to the body and head in an attempt to hurt him. In the 7th round, Mormeck catches Gurov in the corner with a right hand that staggers him, and begins to pummel Gurov heavily. Referree Kenny Bayless gave Gurov a standing 8 count as it was obvious the ropes were holding Gurov from hitting the canvas. Then in
the 8th round, Mormeck continues his assault from the previous round and :32 into the 8th, Bayless stops the fight as Mormeck landed some clean, hard power shots to the head. Two of the three judges had Gurov ahead on the scorecards after 7 complete rounds, 67-65, while the other judge had Mormeck ahead 68-66.

Cole Decisions Izon
Garcia Upsets Samaniego for WBA Super Welter!
Sellers TKO's Robinson in Thriller!
by Mike Oliver

In the first fight of the evening former world cruiserweight champion Alfred Cole of Spring Valley, NY. put in a workman like effort to win a unanimous decision over David Izon of Pensacola, Florida. After a slow first round Cole began to use a stiff jab in round two to establish control over a lethargic Izon. Cole would pick up the pressure in round three with left hooks to the body followed by left hooks to the head. Izon would wake up in round four as he began to find a home with his overhand right hand. After absorbing a couple of overhand right hands, Cole would go back to the jab to regain his reach advantage. Cole would use his jab with an occasional straight right or left hook to out work Izon for the rest of the fight to send the fight to the scorecard. The judges scored the fight 79-73 twice and 77-75 all in favor for Cole. The unanimous decision sends Cole's record to 33-11-3 with 16 KO's and the former Olympian Izon falls to 27-6, with 23 KO's.

ln the WBA super welterweight championship Alex Garcia of Tijuana, Mexico knocked out the now former WBA champion Santiago Samaniego of Panama City, Panama. Garcia, who entered the fight as the undefeated NABO champion, started fast in round one as he connected on a right cross followed by a left hook that sent Samaniego to the canvass. Samaniego beat the count and immediately encountered a barrage of lefts and rights by Garcia. The pressure forced Samaniego to grab and hold for the remaining few seconds of the round. Garcia would look to finish in round two as he connected with a sharp straight right hand. Samaniego took the punch well and countered with a left hook to the body. Samaniego would continue to work the body and appeared to be changing the momentum of the fight.

Garcia would once again find the power in round three that had led him to 19 knockouts in his first twenty fights. Garcia would catch Samaniego with a left hook after Samaniego had landed a left and right to the body. The left hook would put Samaniego on wobbly legs. Garcia would pounce on Samaniego and unload back to back chopping right hands that put Samaniego in serious trouble. Garcia would end the fight with another chopping right hand on the temple that sent Samaniego crashing to the canvass. Referee Tony Weeks took one glance at Samaniego and immediately waived off the fight. The KO victory keeps Garcia perfect at 21-0 with 20 KO's and allows him to pick up the WBA championship. The loss drops Samaniego to 36-7-1 with 20 KO's.

In a cruiserweight attraction Ezra Sellers from Washington, DC. survived an early scare from Jason Robinson of Haywood, IL. to earn a TKO victory in the second round. The southpaw fighters would go right after each other in round one with Robinson landing a solid left hand that caused Sellers to stumble into the corner. Robinson, who is the WBC Continental Americas Champion, looked to finish Sellers, but walked into a counter right cross that stopped him in his tracks. The fighters would end the round with a solid toe to toe exchange. Sellers, who is the former WBU champion, would catch Robinson early in round two with a right cross that caused Robinson to fall face first into the ropes. The ropes actually helped Robinson stay on his feet, but Sellers would waste little time in pounding Robinson with a barrage of punches. After several unanswered shots referee Toby Gibson stepped in and waived an end to the fight at 53 seconds of the second round. The win improves Sellers to 26-5, with 23 KO's and Robinson falls to 16-4, 10 KO's.

Brewster Tames "Durable Giant!"
by Bobby Mundy

Lamon "Relentless" Brewster(29-2, 25KOs) made quick work of the Durable Giant Joe Lenart(10-17-3, 4KOs) via a 3rd round TKO, in the heavyweight division. Brewster was obviously the better fighter from the get go as he whaled to Lenart body with very little retaliation from Lenart at all.
Brewster just picked his shots, mostly left hooks to the body, in order to bring Lenart down. In the 3rd round, Lenart lands a hard right hand to the temple of Lenart which puts him down hard. The 309lbs Lenart did reach his feet and the bell saved him from more punishment. However the ringside physician decided to advise the referee, Tony Gibson, to stop the fight at the end of the 3rd round, claiming Lenart had taken to many hard shots and was not putting up a fight at all.

Ward Wins Split Decision!
Williams Decisions Brown!
by Roger Grandgenett

Female heavyweight Vonda Ward (16-0, 14 KOs) won a four round split decision over late sub Martha Salazar (5-1, 0 KOs). It was a good action fight that left both women bloody at the end. Scored 39-37, 39-37 Wright, 39-37 Salazar.
----------
Despite giving away 97 lbs., heavyweight Sherman "Tank" Williams (22-7-1) pounded out a ten round unanimous verdict over 335 lb. Gabe Brown (14-3-1), who ran out of gas down the stretch. There were no knockdowns in the bout. Scores were 99-91, 96-94, 97-93.