KU News Release

LAWRENCE — John Ruiz, the first world heavyweight boxing champion of Hispanic heritage, will speak at the University of Kansas as part of a program on Latino boxing history at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 8, at the Sabatini Multicultural Resource Center during KU’s Hispanic Heritage Month activities.

Ruiz, of Las Vegas, Nev., will share the event with KU alumnus George Kimball of New York City, boxing journalist and author; and Robert Rodriguez, associate director of McNair Scholars Program and lecturer in Latin American studies at KU.

“At first glance, the panelists for this event might seem randomly selected, but we actually have a lot of overlapping experiences,” Rodriguez said. “George and I covered some of the same boxing events as reporters long before we knew each other. He also wrote the foreword to my book. George has covered almost all of John’s fights. And I used John Ruiz’s fight with James Toney as an example of the state’s inconsistencies in drug testing in my book, years before I would meet him.”

Rodriguez will open the program with an overview of Latino/Latin American boxing history. His book, “The Regulation of Boxing — A History and Comparative Analysis of Policies Among American States,” is based on the dissertation for his 2005 KU doctoral degree in political science.

Kimball will discuss his experiences covering legendary Latino fighters and International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees: Roberto Duran, Jose Torres, Julio Cesar Chavez and Alexis Arguello. Duran was among four featured in Kimball’s book on 1980s-era boxers, “Four Kings: Leonard, Hagler, Hearns, Duran and the Last Great Era of Boxing.”

Ruiz will talk about his Puerto Rican heritage and overall boxing career, including his 2001 defeat of Evander Holyfield to earn his first World Boxing Association title and being named WBA Latino Fighter of the Year in 2001. He is currently ranked No. 2 in the world by the World Boxing Association and is the mandatory challenger for the winner of the Nikolai Valuev-David Haye title fight in November in Germany.

Ruiz was interviewed and profiled for the CNN series “Pioneros: Latino Firsts.” To view the video, go to the CNN Web site.

Kimball, who wrote the foreword to Rodriguez’s book, has cited him as a respected reference source for his knowledge of how regulations can differ from state to state and determine the outcome of a boxing match just as certainly as a fighter’s skill. For example, Ruiz was able to retain his heavyweight title in 2005 because his opponent failed a mandatory drug test required for WBA-sanctioned championship matches.

With no national boxing commission, individual states determine whether to have a regulatory agency for boxing and mixed martial arts sports, then set their own regulations. Kansas established a boxing commission in 2005. Missouri improved its regulations after a boxing match in 1999 that inspired Rodriguez to write his book. Rodriguez was at a boxing match between Randie Carver and Kabary Salem at Harrah’s North Kansas City, Mo., casino when Carver sustained head injuries that led to his death two days later. No onsite ambulance was available to take Carver to the hospital. Missouri amended its regulations to require one in 2002, but the 1996 Professional Boxing Safety Act does not mandate one at the national level.

A question-and-answer session and book signing will follow for Kimball and Rodriguez. Ruiz will also be available after the lectures to take photographs and sign autographs.