BRAVOS FOR THE NEW BOSS SUPERIOR JONES OUTPOINTS RUIZ TO WIN WBA HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE.

Byline: Michael Rosenthal Assistant Sports Editor 

LAS VEGAS - As the final seconds ticked away, those in the packed Thomas & Mack Center stood and applauded with gusto. It was as if they expressing their profound appreciation of a virtuoso performance by Pavarotti, not Roy Jones Jr.

But, indeed, in terms of boxing, this was as artistic as anything an opera singer or painter could give to the world. It was a masterpiece.

It came down to a great fighter against a mediocre fighter with a flawed game plan, as Jones dominated an utterly overmatched John Ruiz almost from start to finish to win a unanimous decision and become only the second light-heavyweight champion to win a heavyweight title, the WBA version.

The judges scored it 116-112, 117-111, 118-110. The Daily News had it 118-110.

Immediately afterward, Jones said something no one would argue with: ``I'm the man. I run this.''

Ruiz, now the former champ, was expected to use what turned out to be a 26-pound weight advantage (225 pounds to 199, at fight time) by bullying Jones, leaning on him, shoving him around, anything to wear down the smaller man.

Instead, for the main part, Ruiz inexplicably stood back and waited for Jones to come to him, which negated any advantage he had. Jones simply peppered him with left jabs so quick Ruiz couldn't see them coming and added plenty of rights and combinations to win the fight.

Even when Ruiz did pin Jones against the ropes - which wasn't often - Jones generally was able to hold Ruiz until referee Jay Nady broke them or to slip away with his vastly superior footspeed.

And the few times Ruiz landed a meaningful punch - he landed only 89 in the fight, to Jones' 134 - he did no damage, answering one of the big questions entering the fight: How would Jones react when the bigger, stronger Ruiz (38-5-1, with 27 knockouts) landed a punch?

Ruiz could knock down and hurt Evander Holyfield, but he couldn't do the same to a man that had never fought at more than 175 pounds before Saturday night.

That was the fight from start to finish. Jones was too good, too fast for a game but ultimately helpless big man.

As the crowd gave him the standing ovation, Jones smiled broadly and raised his arms in the air. It was the greatest moment in a great career, a defining fight that had so long eluded the fighter deemed best in the world pound for pound by many.

In winning, Jones joins Michael Spinks as the only light heavyweights to win a heavyweight title, which was one reason he took the fight.

``I did this to make history for the fans,'' Jones said. ``They wanted me to make history and that's what I wanted to do.''

Jones (48-1, 38 KOs) also might have made it more difficult for his critics to question his courage. He has long been accused of dodging serious challenges even though he's fought most of the best light heavyweights in the world.

``If I didn't go after quality fights, I wouldn't be heavyweight champion of the world right now, would I?'' Jones said.

In preliminary bouts, Ronald ``Winky'' Wright (44-3, 25 KOs) defeated No. 1 contender J.C. Candelo (25-5-3, 17 KOs) by a one-sided unanimous decision to retain his IBF junior middleweight championship.

Wright has been trying to lure WBC and WBA beltholder Oscar De La Hoya into a title-unification bout.

Fres Oquendo (30-1, 15 KOs) stopped Maurice Harris (19-13-2, 10 KOs) with a single left hook to the temple at 2:12 of round 10 of a scheduled 12-round heavyweight bout.

Oquendo also knocked Harris down in the third round.

Vonda Ward, a 6-foot-6 former professional basketball player, outpointed Martha Salazar in a four-round women's bout, even though Salazar (5-1) seemed to land the more effective punches.

Ward (16-0, 14 KOs) played at the University of Tennessee and professionally in Europe and the now-defunct ABL.

And Jean-Marc Mormeck (29-2, 21 KOs) retained his WBA cruiserweight belt by stopping No. 1 contender Alexander Gurov (32-4-1, 27 KOs) 32 seconds into the eighth round.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) John Ruiz, right, lands a punch against Roy Jones Jr., but Ruiz did no damage to the light heavyweight champion Saturday.

(2) John Ruiz, right, mostly waited for Roy Jones Jr. to come to him, allowing the quicker Jones to pepper Ruiz with left jabs.

Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News