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| Date | August 12, 2000 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Paris Las Vegas, Paradise, Nevada | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | vacant WBA heavyweight title | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Holyfield wins via 12-round unanimous decision (116–112, 114–113, 114–113) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Evander Holyfield vs. John Ruiz , billed as Justice, was a professional boxing match contested on August 12, 2000 for the vacant WBA heavyweight championship.
After Lennox Lewis defeated Evander Holyfield at the second attempt to become the undisputed heavyweight champion, the WBA ordered Lewis to face its top contender John Ruiz, where as Lewis wanted to first defend his titles against WBC and IBF number two contender Michael Grant. The WBA and Lewis agreed that he would fight Grant first followed by Ruiz. Ruiz's promoter Don King challenged the decision in court and a clause was found in Lewis' contract that stated the winner of the Holyfield–Lewis fight would first defend his titles against the WBA's number one contender. Because of this, Lewis was stripped of his WBA title. [1] The WBA chose Holyfield to face Ruiz for the vacant WBA Heavyweight title.
Ruiz was aggressive throughout the fight landing many effective jabs, and except for late in the third round, he was never really in any serious trouble from Holyfield.
Judges Duane Ford and Dave Moretti scored the fight 114–113, while Judge Fernando Viso scored it 116–112 giving Evander Holyfield victory by unanimous decision to become the first boxer in history to be the World Heavyweight Champion four times.
The decision was controversial as many observers and boxing reporters felt that the underdog Ruiz had done enough to win. In interviews after the fight Ruiz said "It was highway robbery without a gun,... I won the fight and he knows I won the fight...I had control of the fight. I am very surprised by the judges' decision. I don't know what fight they saw." [2] Showtime commentators described the decision as "absurd" and "ridiculous".
Due to this controversial decision, an immediate rematch was ordered to take place in early 2001
Confirmed bouts: [3]
| Winner | Loser | Weight division/title belt(s) disputed | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
 Beibis Mendoza |  Rosendo Álvarez | vacant WBA World light flyweight title | 7th round DQ. |
| Non-TV bouts | |||
 Daniel Seda | Oscar León | vacant WBA Fedelatin featherweight title | 8th round TKO. |
 Richie Melito | Thomas Williams | Heavyweight (10 rounds) | 1st round KO. |
| Christy Martin | Dianna Lewis | Welterweight (10 rounds) | Unanimous Decision. |
| Carlos Quintana |  Miguel Avila | Welterweight (10 rounds) | 1st round TKO. |
| Jeffrey Hill | Shakir Ashanti | Super Welterweight (6 rounds) | 4th round TKO. |
 Siarhei Liakhovich | Tracy Wilson | Heavyweight (4 rounds) | 1st round KO. |
| Country | Broadcaster |
|---|---|
| United States | Showtime |
Lennox Claudius Lewis is a boxing commentator and former professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 2003. He is a three-time world heavyweight champion, a two-time lineal champion, and the last heavyweight to hold the undisputed championship. Holding dual British and Canadian citizenship, Lewis represented Canada as an amateur at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics; in the latter, he won a gold medal in the super-heavyweight division.
John Ruiz is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2010, and held the WBA heavyweight title twice between 2001 and 2005. Ruiz is of Puerto Rican descent, and is the first Latino boxer to win a world heavyweight title.
Evander Holyfield is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1984 and 2011. He reigned as the undisputed champion at cruiserweight in the late 1980s and at heavyweight in the early 1990s, and is the only boxer in history to win the undisputed championship in two weight classes in the three belt era. Nicknamed "the Real Deal", Holyfield is the only four-time world heavyweight champion, having held the unified WBA, WBC, and IBF titles from 1990 to 1992, the WBA and IBF titles again from 1993 to 1994, the WBA title a third time from 1996 to 1999; the IBF title a third time from 1997 to 1999 and the WBA title for a fourth time from 2000 to 2001.
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