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Justice
Date	August 12, 2000
Venue	Paris Las Vegas, Paradise, Nevada
Title(s) on the line	vacant WBA heavyweight title
Tale of the tape
Boxer
Boxer	Evander Holyfield
Nickname	The Real Deal
Hometown	Atlanta, Georgia
Purse	$5,000,000
Pre-fight record	36–4–1 (25 KO)
Age	37 years, 9 months
Height	6 ft 2+1⁄2 in (189 cm)
Weight	221 lb (100 kg)
Style	Orthodox
Recognition	WBA; No. 2 Ranked Heavyweight; 2-division undisputed world champion
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.^[1]

Background

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.^[2] The WBA chose Holyfield to face Ruiz for the vacant WBA Heavyweight title.

The co feature of the bout was set to be a mandatory defence for WBA welterweight champion James Page against Andrew Lewis, however it was called off at a few days notice after a dispute over the purse bid.^[3] As a result a bout between Rosendo Álvarez and Beibis Mendoza, which was originally part of the undercard for the Tim Austin vs. Arthur Johnson bout held the day before, was moved to fill the slot on the Holyfield Ruiz card.^[4]

The fight

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.

Aftermath

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." Showtime commentators described the decision as "absurd" and "ridiculous".^[5]

Due to this controversial decision, an immediate rematch was ordered to take place in early 2001

Eight days after refereeing the co featured bout, referee Mitch Halpern committed suicide at his home in Las Vegas.^[6]

Undercard

Confirmed bouts:^[7]

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.

Broadcasting

Country	Broadcaster
United States	Showtime

References

^ "Evander Holyfield vs. John Ruiz (1st meeting) - BoxRec".
^ Hard-Hitting Federal Judge Strips Lewis of WBA Title, L.A. Times article, 2000-04–13, Retrieved on 2013-08-10
^ Associated Press (10 August 2000). "Page fight on Holyfield undercard is off". espncdn.com. ESPN. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
^ Dan Rafael (11 August 2000). "Alvarez-Mendoza title fight elevated Bout moved to fill Page gap on Showtime". USA TODAY. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
^ Dan Rafael (14 August 2000). "More controversy for Holyfield". USA TODAY. Archived from the original on 15 August 2000. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
^ GEORGE KIMBALL (24 August 2000). "A life of promise ends with a gunshot". Irish Times. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
^ "BoxRec - event".

Preceded by vs. Lennox Lewis	Evander Holyfield' bouts August 12, 2000	Succeeded by Rematch
Preceded by vs. Thomas Williams	John Ruiz's bouts August 12, 2000	Succeeded by Rematch