I've been hounded out, blasts Ruiz

Dethroned WBA heavyweight champion John Ruiz announced his retirement following last night’s defeat by former middleweight James Toney in New York.

The much-criticised American revealed his “hate” for the sport after being hounded by fans and media for his pedestrian, uninspiring style.

Following the unanimous points defeat at Madison Square Garden, Ruiz, 33, said: “I always treated everybody with respect, but they didn’t treat me the same way.

“It hurts me to walk away like this. I grew up in boxing. It’s sad for me to put it this way, but boxing was the sport I loved. Now it’s the sport I hate.”

Before the fight a New York State Athletic Commission inspector demanded Ruiz shave his beard – which he has sported in previous fights – and Ruiz claimed the incident was an example of a campaign against him.

“It dawned on me they were going to do everything they could to get me out of the sport tonight,” Ruiz said. “I knew right then this was the night they were going to take it away from me.

“I think they decided a long time ago they didn’t want me in the sport. They never wanted me to beat [Evander] Holyfield. They never thought I’d beat Holyfield. They never thought I’d beat [Hasim] Rahman or [Andrew] Golota or those other guys.

“I did all I could to lift up the sport of boxing. I extended my hand to everybody. I didn’t say anything bad about anybody and all they did was say bad about me. I’m a nice guy. I’m finished. I’ve been fed up with what goes on in boxing for a while.”

Toney becomes only the third former middleweight champion to win a world heavyweight title, following in the footsteps of the legendary Bob Fitzsimmons and more recently Roy Jones after winning on the scorecards 116-111 twice and 115-112.

Toney had no sympathy for his opponent and seemed intent on rubbing salt into the wounds of the emotional former champion.

“I only had five weeks to prepare for this fight. If I had more, I would have knocked him out. I am the WBA champion and soon to be undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.

“John is an average fighter. I did just what I said I would do - get rid of him from the heavyweight division. Don King will throw him in the trash can where he belongs. He gave me the opportunity and I did what I had to do.

“I only had four and a half weeks to prepare for this fight. I do what I do. I didn’t expect much from John because he is an average fighter. John Ruiz is stupid. He can’t change his style.”