John Ruiz vs. Roy Jones Jr.

Roy Jones Jr 193 lbs beat John Ruiz 226 lbs by UD in round 12 of 12

• Date: 2003-03-01
• Location: Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
• Referee: Jay Nady
• Judge: Stanley Christodoulou 118-110
• Judge: Jerry Roth 116-112
• Judge: Duane Ford 117-111

• Unofficial AP scorecard: 116-112 Jones
• Unofficial HBO judge Harold Lederman scorecard: 119-109 Jones
• World Boxing Association Heavyweight Title (3rd defense by Ruiz)
• Promoter: Don King Productions
  
• Aired on: HBO Pay-Per-View (Main Event)
  
• Photo 2, Photo 3, Photo 4

Notes

• Jones was guaranteed $10 million against 60% of the profits. Ruiz had no guarantee. He received 40% of the profits, which he had to share with promoter Don King.
• Jones was a 9-5 favorite.
• There was a crowd of 15,300.
• Jones landed 134 of 424 punches (32%) and Ruiz connected on 89 of 433 (21%).
• "Roy Jones fights at heavyweight" was named The Ring Event of the Year for 2003.
• Jones became the seventh boxer in history to win world titles in four weight divisions.
• Jones became the first former world middleweight titlist since Bob Fitzsimmons in 1897 to win a world heavyweight title.
• Jones never defended the WBA heavyweight title. He relinquished the belt and returned to the light heavyweight division.
• According to Mark Taffet, HBO’s Senior Vice-President of Sports Operations and Pay-Per-View, the fight generated 602,000 pay-per-view buys. The figure was originally reported to be 525,000 buys.

Articles

• USA Today - February 26, 2003
• Secondsout.com - March 1, 2003

Preceded by: Ruiz vs. Johnson

WBA Heavyweight Title Fight # 77

Succeeded by: Ruiz vs. Oquendo