Team Ruiz Alleges “Corruption” in Valuev Fight

Robbed of his WBA title when he first fought Nikolai Valuev December 2005 at Berlin’s Max Schmeling Halle, The Boxing Standard’s favorite heavyweight, John Ruiz, had a rematch with the seven-foot Russian August 30 in the same building for the vacated WBA belt.

Perhaps Ruiz had little choice but to return to the scene of the crime at this point in his career, since he has been attacked for years by all the media “experts” who have been writing him off for over a decade now, and he is not considered to be a major drawing card on American TV. So when the sadly predictable verdict of this rematch was announced, originally a split decision win for Valuev which was later “changed” to a unanimous decision by the WBA officials claiming a clerical error in adding up the scorecards, the accomplices in this latest heist are those who have had John Ruiz effectively banished from American TV.

But fuck TV. Who needs it these days, anyway? This fight was broadcast in Germany on the ARD network, and streamed on various peer-to-peer sites for free around this world, and any others which might be nervously watching how we handle our affairs on Earth.

I thus watched the fight under these imperfect but acceptable conditions, and scored at least seven of the 12 rounds for Ruiz. Plus, Valuev was deducted a point for shoving Ruiz to the canvas in the tenth round. Also, in the second round, Valuev was hurt by Ruiz and knocked to the ropes, which was the only thing holding his huge frame up. The referee did not rule it a knockdown, but the round still should have been scored 10-8 for Ruiz.

While the judges ruled against him, the German fans largely cheered Ruiz after the fight, showing that they are far fairer than those who ran this show. This was clearly visible and audible on the telecast, even to those of us who do not know German.

Now, perhaps just as predictably, John Ruiz’s team has issued a news release alleging corruption in this fight, and calling on the WBA to review the fight and declare it a no contest.

Somehow I think the WBA’s response to all this will be just as predictable.

Here is the Team Ruiz news release:

Deck stacked against “The Quietman”

Team Ruiz protests outcome vs. Valuev

LAS VEGAS (September 8, 2008) – Two-time World Boxing Association heavyweight champion John “The Quietman” Ruiz (43-8-1, 29 KOs), as well as his advisor/attorney Tony Cardinale and head trainer Manny Siaca, Sr., believe they faced sizable unfair disadvantages August 30 fighting Nikolai Valuev (49-1, 34 KOs) for the WBA heavyweight title in Berlin.

Valuev recaptured the WBA belt by way of a 12-round decision clouded in controversy.

Team Ruiz is demanding a full videotape of Valuev-Ruiz II to further review for evidence of alleged corrupt practices.

Points of contention include the following issues:

1. Judge Takeshi Shimakawa improperly kept a running score during the fight, which is prohibited by the WBA, as well as the only way he could have “corrected” his scorecard after the scores were announced (Shimakawa’s scoring changed from 114-113 in favor of Ruiz to 114-113 for Valuev.

2. Ruiz was not credited with a legitimate knockdown when he floored Valuev in the second round. Ruiz blasted Valuev with punches, knocking “The Giant” into the ropes, but the referee incorrectly ruled a slip when Valuev’s knee hit the canvas after he careened off of the ropes. Scoring that round would have been different, in Ruiz’ favor, if it was ruled a knockdown.

3. Judge Antonio Requena scored two rounds even, despite WBA instructions that there should be no even rounds scored in championship bouts. Ruiz would have been declared the winner if the two even rounds had been awarded to Ruiz in addition to the aforementioned second round scoring snafu being sorted out.

4. Most importantly, throughout the fight Valuev’s cornermen received judges’ scoring results as the rounds went on, something that happens regularly only in Germany, yet clearly constitutes major corruption in boxing.

In addition to demanding a full videotape of the fight for review, Team Ruiz plans to petition the WBA to rule the bout a no-contest and Valuev be stripped of the WBA title for a blatant violation of WBA rules. Team Ruiz will also seek sanctions against any officials involved in permitting these violations to happen, whether it’s enforced by the WBA or German Boxing Federation.

“The WBA needs to resolve this matter as quickly as possible,” Ruiz said. “Non-officials are not allowed to handle or read scorecards during the fight. Valuev should be stripped and a rematch ordered. It seems like everything possible has happened to me in boxing. Whether it was defending my title by disqualification (Kirk Johnson), my opponent testing positive for steroids (James Toney), or scores changed after a fight like this. It was chaotic after the fight. With all of the confusion going on, at one point while waiting to hear the results, I thought I was in Florida and the ‘hanging chads’ during the 2000 election.

“The WBA must investigate the judges and who was running the show, Sauerland. Everything was very weird at the end of the fight. The German people are wonderful and they’ve treated me very well each time I’ve fought there. They cheered loudly after the fight, but only when Valuev announced he was going to give me a rematch (He has since changed his tune and is talking about fighting an unnamed opponent in December.) They should hold Sauerland and the German Boxing Federation accountable. The great German boxing fans deserve much better. Things have to change in Germany, where everybody knows foreigners don’t have a chance of winning a close decision. I’m terribly disappointed with what went on over there. Boxing suffered another black eye.”

The Puerto Rican-American Ruiz is the first and only Latino heavyweight champion of the world. He has fought in 10 world championship fights and defeated three world heavyweight champions -- Evander Holyfield, Hasim Rahman and Tony Tucker – in addition to beating top contenders such as Andrew Golota, Fres Oquendo, Kirk Johnson and Jameel McCline during his 15-year pro career.

Chagaev Injured Once More; Why Not Put in Ruiz Against Valuev?

The only news less shocking would have been that more people were massacring each other in the Middle East, that another crooked businessman or politician has been caught, or that you will be getting less service for more money from the medical, airline, and cable TV industries.

Ruslan Chagaev is certainly taking advantage of his medical services, as once again he has pulled out of a fight claiming an injury. He had been scheduled to defend his WBA heavyweight title July 5 against the man from whom he won it, Nikolai Valuev, in Germany. Now, reportedly suffering from an Achilles tendon torn in his left foot during sparring Thursday afternoon, he is out of this fight and is now facing surgery.

Plus, for all you infidels, his promoter, Universum, even has a picture to prove it:

(http://www.boxing.de)

Chagaev had previously pulled out of fighting Valuev on this fight’s original date of May 31, and also a title unification fight with then-WBO champion Sultan Ibragimov last fall, all citing illness.

This July 5 card had been billed as a night of rematches, since Chagaev had won a majority decision over Valuev in April 2007, with the scheduled co-feature having WBA middleweight champion Felix Sturm fighting Randy Griffin in a rematch of their draw from last October. Sturm-Griffin will go on as planned, but the heavyweight fight is off.

But why? Why not try to use another former WBA heavyweight champion, John Ruiz?

I haven’t spoken with Ruiz and don’t know if he is ready or available, especially on such short notice, but Ruiz lost highly controversial decisions to both Chagaev and Valuev in Germany, yet has never been given a rematch.

Ruiz dropped his WBA belt to Valuev by majority decision in Berlin, Germany, Dec. 17, 2005. In Ruiz’s next fight, Nov. 18, 2006, he lost a split decision to Chagaev, also in Germany. If those fights had been judged elsewhere, Ruiz easily could have been declared the winner, or at worst retained his belt by draws.

Since then, Ruiz has only fought twice, stopping journeyman Otis Tisdale in two on Oct. 13, 2007, and winning a lopsided decision over Jameel McCline March 8, 2008, in what was billed as a WBC title eliminator.

Ruiz is still only 36 and should have several good years left in him. He dominated McCline, who in his previous fight had dropped now-WBC champion Samuel Peter three times before fading and losing a decision.

So why no rematch with either Chagaev or Valuev? Once again, boxing puts politics first, and leaves a former champion out in the cold.

The July 5 card will be telecast in Germany by ZDF. No doubt the streamers at SopCast will make it available for the world to see. But don’t tell the promoters, who probably wouldn’t get it anyway.

Your Weekend Itinerary for March 7-8

The major fights which will be televised in America this weekend will probably land, both on the sporting and entertainment scales, somewhere between last week’s shining Vazquez-Marquez 3 and the previous week’s stinking Klitschko-Ibragimov 0.

Highly-touted South African featherweight Thomas Mashaba (20-1-4, 12 KOs) makes his American debut Friday, March 7, on ESPN2’s “Friday Night Fights” and at the final fight card at the Fox Theatre in the Foxwoods Casino in Mashantucket, Conn. His opponent is Mexican journeyman Cristobal Cruz (31-11-2, 23 KOs), who has dropped two of his last three and four of his last seven fights, albeit against accomplished fighters Zahir Raheem, Francisco Lorenzo (twice), and Steven Luevano. This is a showcase for Mashaba, but what else can we expect from this increasingly dreadful show?

Saturday, March 8, brings a full slate of important title fights on the American premium networks.

Showtime, as usual, has a compelling fight with their telecast from England of the cruiserweight unification fight between David Haye (20-1, 19 KOs), holder of two of these belts and generally regarded as the best in that division, against another titleholder, Enzo Maccarinelli (28-1, 21 KOs), trained by Enzo Calzaghe. This fights starts at 2 AM GMT at the O2 Arena in London to accommodate us Yanks, who will see it live at 9 PM EST. Setanata has the TV honors in the UK. Haye says he will move up to heavyweight after this one. Both men’s knockout power may be especially on display before this international audience. In the U.S., Showtime’s boxing telecast is followed by a mixed martial arts card, also from England.

At basically the same time, HBO gives us more heavyweights. Finally, after many had given up on ever seeing this fight, WBC regular heavyweight champion Oleg Maskaev (34-5, 26 KOs) takes on WBC interim heavyweight champion Samuel Peter (29-1, 22 KOs) in Cancun, Mexico. Supposedly the winner has WBC heavyweight champion emeritus Vitali Klitschko next, another matchup about which we skeptics shake our heads. With Peter being dropped three times and almost stopped by late substitute Jameel McCline last year in Madison Square Garden, and the 39-year-old Maskaev sitting inactive since Dec. 2006 and postponing this bout a couple of times, it seems best to wonder who will lose rather than who will win this fight.

If these heavyweights manage to deliver yet another performance worthy of purgatory, the HBO co-feature has the exciting and unbeaten multiple lightweight beltholder Juan Diaz (33-0, 17 KOs) defending those straps against the slick and dangerous Nate Campbell (31-5-1, 25 KOs). A lot of the prefight drama has focused on the battle between Diaz’s promoter Don King and his manager Willie Savannah. King announced yesterday that he will no longer promote Diaz after this fight, citing his numerous disputes with Savannah over money, opponents for Diaz, and the like. This controversy may or may not play a role in the fight’s outcome between the 24-year-old college student Diaz and the 35-year-old veteran Campbell, or, if it goes to the judges, their decision. But this one will be televised widely, so whatever happens in Mexico may not simply stay there.

HBO will not be televising the undercard, which includes the return of the vastly underrated heavyweight (and supposedly retooled by trainer Manny Siaca Sr.) John Ruiz (42-7-1, 29 KOs), still just 36, against Jameel McCline (38-3-3, 23 KOs), and a super lightweight eliminator between unbeaten Timothy Bradley (21-0, 11 KOs) and former champion Jose Luis Castillo (56-8-1, 48 KOs).

Ruiz, the victim of questionable decision losses in Germany against Nikolai Valuev and Ruslan Chagaev in the WBA title roulette game, only fought once in 2007, against journeyman Otis Tisdale. Showing movement heretofore absent or at least underutilized in his approach, Ruiz stopped Tisdale in two. If he is given the chance, and especially with today’s heavyweight wreckage, Ruiz could capture one or more of these belts once again.

If you want to see the undercard on this typically loaded Don King show, you either have to be in Mexico, be in a country where the international feed is available, or know how to watch these things online. The same can be said of Friday’s card in Nottingham, England, featuring unbeaten junior featherweight Kiko Martinez vs. Rendall Munroe; Saturday’s fourth bout between flyweight champ Daisuke Naito and former champ Pongsaklek Wonjongkam in Tokyo, Japan, which should be available both on Japanese and Thai TV; and the women’s fights of Ina Menzer vs. Sandy Tsagouris and Alesia Graf vs. Fatuma Zarika from Krefeld, Germany, which will be telecast there on ZDF (http://www.zdf.de/). The latter telecast will apparently feature just the two women’s fights on that card, but after all, March 8 is International Women’s Day, so what better way to celebrate that than televising women fighting each other?

Now make sure that you do all your shopping and errands before this busy weekend.