John ruiz boxer biography

He competed from to in the heavyweight division and held the WBA heavyweight title twice during his career. He is also the first Latino boxer to win a world heavyweight title. Over the course of his career, Ruiz fought a total of 55 times, compiling a record of with 30 knockouts. He suffered his first loss against Sergei Kobozev via 10 round split-decision on August 12, , which brought an end to his fight win streak.

Ruiz retired from professional boxing with one title win, three title defenses, and two losses via knockout. Ruiz made his professional boxing debut on August 20, , against Kevin Parker at the age of 20, defeating Parker via 4 round unanimous decision. He went on to win 13 more consecutive fights after his debut, including nine wins via stoppage.

John ruiz record

Ruiz had his first world title fight at the age of 28 on August 12, , against Evander Holyfield for the WBA vacant title. Despite losing the fight via 12 round unanimous decision, Ruiz fought Holyfield again in early and won the WBA title via a unanimous decision victory. Ruiz's first defense of the WBA title came on April 17, , against Fres Oquendo, which he won via an eleventh-round technical knockout.

Ruiz defended his title against Andrew Golota on November 13, , via a controversial unanimous decision. After this fight, Toney tested positive for stanozolol, an anabolic steroid, resulting in the outcome being changed to a no-contest. Ruiz reclaimed the title after Toney was suspended from fighting for the WBA heavyweight title for the next two years.

Ruiz lost his title for the first time on December 17, , in controversial fashion to Nikolai Valuev, marking the beginning of controversy that would follow Ruiz throughout the rest of his reign. He lost a rematch for the vacant WBA Heavyweight title with Valuev on August 30, , once again in controversial fashion.