By Dave Wilcox

“Ding Dong the witch is dead, the witch is dead, the witch is dead, ding dong the wicked witch is dead!” I think that was the chorus going on at Madison Square Garden last Saturday night following James Toney’s victory over “The Nyquil Man” John Ruiz. I likened Toney’s victory to The Red Sox finally getting a Ring last year or when John Elway finally got his Super Bowl glory in 1997.  I felt warm and fuzzy inside, just how I imagined all the chowder heads in Bean town must have felt last October. Toney winning the title isn’t the warm and fuzzy part. I could care less about that.  What brought a tear to my eye is the fact that someone finally rid us if the nightmare we all call John Ruiz. 

John Ruiz is a nice enough fellow, he seems to work hard and to my knowledge he hasn’t bitten anyone’s ear off yet.  His damn fighting style was the killer.  The holding and hugging is unwatchable as a Boxing fan.  Aside from that, he always tried to put on the “Tyson” serious look on his face before a fight as if he meant business this time.  In the end, no matter how “serious” he looked, it was always the same old story when watching Ruiz fight.  Objects would fly across my front room and the kids would go find a closet to hide in.  I think maybe I was more frustrated with myself for continuously tuning in to his fights.  It got to the point when I couldn’t even think straight when talking about Ruiz. I think I’ve predicted him to lose every fight since the Tua fight. I became the Tyson homer that I despise so much.  You know what I mean, the fan that blindly picks his guy to win regardless of age, skill or training regimen.  Well, that was me with Ruiz, only I hated him so bad, I couldn’t bring myself to predicting victory for him.  This time, he got me real good.  He finally broke me like a 10 month old Poodle.  I finally admitted defeat and predicted a Ruiz decision victory over James Toney.  Again, I apologize for not thinking straight, but I just knew Ruiz would bore the hell out me again and win this fight to intensify my pain and suffering.  Never in my life have I been so happy to be so wrong!

I’m not ready to crown James Toney the best Heavyweight in the world just yet.  After all, he is too heavy around the gut and didn’t exactly beat Ali last Saturday.  What he did do is show us something we don’t often see in the Heavyweight division.  He showed us Boxing I.Q. and a well executed game plan.  James Toney is a breath of fresh air because he “boxes”.  He throws a jab, he counters, he rolls with punches and he is tough as nails.  In the age of the Super Heavyweights, that is rare indeed.

For James Toney, I hope he continues towards unification.  He might be the only guy that could get us close to that elusive goal.  I hope for a Byrd fight against Toney.  After that we’ll give him a tune-up fight against Tyson.  We’ll throw him that money bone as a reward for exterminating Johnny for us.  Last but of course not least, a fight with Dr. Frankenstein………err I mean Ironfist, Vitali Klitschko.

For John Ruiz, I hope he invests all that Don King money well and retires in Massachusetts somewhere.  We never want to see you again John.  I’m happy that you were able to make all that money, but I think it would be best for all parties involved if you never lace ‘em up again.  We wouldn’t want that legacy tarnished.  I think it’s pretty impressive to lose your Heavyweight title twice to Middleweights. 

Congratulations John Ruiz and THANK YOU James Toney!

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