Boxing: Ruiz's sense of indignation fuelled by silence of Jones

Ruby Wilson, a blues singer of great distinction, briefly lapsed into sporting commentary in the middle of her fight-crowd gig on the eve of Mike Tyson's 49-second destruction of Clifford Etienne in Memphis last weekend. "Five million bucks in your pocket before you set foot on stage and sing a note ­ or throw a punch," said the diva. "Gee, that's a concept I could get to like."

It is one certainly beginning to draw the envy of John Ruiz, the World Boxing Association's heavyweight champion, who here tomorrow gives the celebrated Roy Jones his chance of a place in boxing history.

Ruiz's agreement to put ­ without any certain financial reward other than $200,000 (£126,000) worth of training expenses ­ his third share of boxing's most valued title on the line against the undisputed light-heavyweight champion, Jones, is a breathtaking novelty in the modern fight scene. But the gesture, positively Corinthian when set against Tyson's recent habit of staying in bed until the promoters up the ante, was based on two assumptions, both of them quite perilous. The first was that victory over Jones, who at 34 is still rated boxing's best pound-for-pound performer, would give Ruiz a new cachet when the talk turned to the financial value of big heavyweight fights. The second, even more risky when you consider Jones' notoriously reclusive streak, was that Ruiz's challenger would do his share of promotion to increase pay-per-view buys for the telecast.

Ruiz, who needs 400,000 television buys to make a quarter of Jones' guaranteed $10m, has been angered by his opponent's unwillingness to offer more than a smattering of sound-bites as the target sales figure looks increasingly optimistic.

Earlier this week, the normally amiable Ruiz was beginning to express some of his frustration. The rest of it, he said, would come in the Thomas and Mack Center tomorrow evening.

Ruiz asked a packed gathering at the fight press conference in a Caesars Palace ballroom: "Does a pimp catch a 'ho' when she takes off with his money?" The allusion was unfortunate from someone who is beginning to be painted as the nearest thing boxing has to a shining image, but the point was clear enough.

Later, Ruiz said: "I took the fight on these terms because I'm so tired of all the crap in boxing these days. I wanted to get somebody in the ring who mattered. The man I really want to fight is Lennox Lewis. But he won't look at me. He calls me Johnny Louise. I think I'm entitled to a little more respect that that. Maybe he does respect me, though, and that's the trouble.

"Maybe he's noticed that I put Evander Holyfield down ­ and that's something he couldn't do in two fights. Tyson, Lewis, the Klitschko brothers, they've all turned me down, but maybe when I beat Roy Jones, who is supposed to be a superstar, I might get a better profile."

Ruiz's indignation is maybe not too hard to understand. Though he dropped a couple of decisions early in his career, his only two other defeats ­ in a record of 34-4-1 ­ came against the hard-punching David Tua seven years ago and a highly dubious points loss to Holyfield in the first of their three title fights three years ago. The Tua defeat was particularly hard on the earnest young member of a Puerto Rican family growing up in a working-class district of the Massachusetts town of Chelsea. Tua's sneers still linger in his mind. The South Sea Islander caught Ruiz with his first punch and the fight was over in the first round.

Ruiz had a tough upbringing, his runaway father dying of alcohol abuse, and he says that boxing saved him from life in the streets. His series of fights with Holyfield, albeit a seriously fading Holyfield, do, however, seem to have sharply increased his confidence. "My pride is secure as the first Latino heavyweight champion of the world," he was saying this week. "But I see this as just a starting point. My final goal is to be the undisputed champion of the world."

In a rare public appearance, Jones said that he had every intention of doing that. In fact, he needed someone to tie his hands when he slept because he was so ready to fight he was liable to wake up and start punching the walls. His appetite for mean action, he says, is only heightened by the company he keeps on his 800-acre ranch in the Florida panhandle. He has 2,000 lifestock, a quarter of it comprised of fighting cocks. He also has 50 pit-bull terriers. He told one recent visitor that if the dogs break free lives are endangered. "If I don't go down and tie them up again in an hour or so someone is likely to be killed."

Yesterday blows were exchanged between the two camps at the weigh-in after a row over the gloves to be used. Ruiz's manager, Norman Stone, was later taken to hospital suffering from a suspected heart attack. The Nevada Athletic Commission will be reviewing a video of the mêlée and fines may follow.

Jones believes he is quick enough and skilful enough to become the first former middleweight champion to win the world heavyweight title since Bob Fitzsimmons beat "Gentleman" Jim Corbett in 1897. He will need to be; at 13st 11lb, he is 33lb lighter than Ruiz. That he gets a $10m basic for taking the shot no doubt impresses Ruby Wilson. But it is beginning to gnaw at John Ruiz, which is probably good for the fight, if not the profits.