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Pastimes : Boxing: The Sweet Science -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LPS5 who wrote (618)	8/23/2000 6:56:18 PM
From: LPS5	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10489

Stats knock down Holyfield: 'Neutral' party's punch numbers fall in favor of Ruiz By Dan Rafael, USA TODAY Heavyweight John Ruiz claims he was robbed of the decision vs. Evander Holyfield on Aug. 12, and he has a case if you believe CompuBox punch statistics. The controversial fight for a belt that was stripped from champion Lennox Lewis ended with a unanimous decision for Holyfield that many felt was unjust (USA TODAY scored it 117-112 for Ruiz). Showtime, which televised the fight, does not utilize punch statistics like HBO and ESPN2, which have contracts with CompuBox. But Ruiz manager Norman Stone and attorney Anthony Cardinale asked CompuBox to analyze a tape of Holyfield-Ruiz. The results, obtained exclusively by USA TODAY, indicate Ruiz deserved the decision. He beat Holyfield in virtually every category CompuBox keeps. "We figured we should give it to someone who does it for a living," said Stone, who gave CompuBox founders Robert Canobbio and Logan Hobson the tape last weekend at the Naseem Hamed-Augie Sanchez fight. "We wanted a neutral party to give us the figures so nobody could say anything." CompuBox analyst Saul Avelar broke down the tape Tuesday by watching the bout twice, each time concentrating only on one fighter. Ruiz threw more punches (453-427), landed more punches (148-118) and had a higher connect percentage (33%-28%). In jabs thrown, Ruiz had the edge (250-184). He also had the edge in jabs landed (78-44) and connect percentage (31%-24%). In power shots — punches other than jabs — Holyfield had the slight edge in punches thrown (243-203) and landed (74-70). Ruiz's landing percentage was better (34%-30%). Ruiz also was busier than Holyfield, averaging 38 punches a round to Holyfield's 36. The average heavyweight throws 45-50 per round, according to Hobson. CompuBox, founded in 1984, gives boxing fans more stats than just wins, losses, draws and KOs. "We never said that punch stats are the end-all, or that they should be used as a new way to score fights," Canobbio said. "But I would say 90% of the time when we do a fight, the fighter who is throwing more and landing more wins the fight, which makes sense."