HISTORY MAY BE TOO HEAVY FOR JONES LIGHT HEAVIES MOSTLY HAVE FAILED AFTER MOVING UP.

Byline: Michael Rosenthal Assistant Sports Editor 

LAS VEGAS - Bob Foster can laugh about it now, but it wasn't funny at the time.

One of the biggest punchers in history had the courage to step into the ring with the two baddest heavyweights on the planet - Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier - 30-plus years ago with the idea of becoming the first light-heavyweight champion to win a heavyweight title.

Instead, he had his brain cells rearranged and became symbolic of an almost-always futile adventure.

Of 15 light heavyweights who have tried to move up in weight to claim the sport's greatest trophy, only one - Michael Spinks - was successful, and old-timer Philadelphia Jack O'Brien drew in his bid against Tommy Burns. The rest generally could be found stretched out on one canvas or another, unaware they foolishly had underestimated the difference 20 or 30 pounds can make.

Roy Jones Jr. hopes to buck the trend and become the second to turn the trick when he faces WBA heavyweight titleholder John Ruiz on Saturday in Las Vegas.

``The hardest I got hit by a light heavyweight was by Roger Rouse,'' said Foster, now a retired law-enforcement officer. ``He caught me with a left hook that sent pain from my head to the bottom of my feet. ... But it's different when a guy like Frazier hits you.

``When Frazier caught me with a left hook, I didn't feel a thing. I didn't know where I was a day, a day and a half later, and then I woke up. I was putting my shoes on after the fight. My trainer (Billy Edwards) said, `What are you doing?' I said, `I'm getting ready to fight.' He said, `The fight's over with.' I said, `What happened?' He said, `You got knocked out.' I said, `On national television?'

``It's whole lot different,'' he said with a chuckle, ``to get hit by a heavyweight.''

The light heavyweights who tried and failed to win the heavyweight championship generally were highly respected. Some were Hall of Famers as a result of their success in the 175-pound weight class.

In 1934, well-schooled Tommy Loughran was outweighed by 86 pounds - the biggest weight differential in any title fight - by clumsy but hulking heavyweight titleholder Primo Carnera. Loughran ate gorgonzola cheese before the fight in hopes the offensive smell might keep Carnera off of him, according to historian Bert Sugar, apparently unaware Carnera liked gorgonzola.

The result: Carnera, vastly inferior in terms of ability, won a 15-round decision.

Perhaps the most memorable light heavyweight vs. heavyweight matchup occurred in 1941, when slick Billy Conn fought Joe Louis for the first time.

Conn, outweighed 199 pounds to 169, gave a masterful boxing performance to take a secure lead on the scorecards through 12 rounds. However, Conn made the stupid decision to try to knock out Louis and discovered the hard way he'd made the mistake of his career: Louis landed a crushing right to put Conn down and out and save his title in the 13th round.

Conn, who died in 1993, kicked himself over the blunder the rest of his life.

``Conn was a brilliant boxer, a speed demon,'' historian Hank Kaplan said. ``He was a small guy against Joe Louis, though. I didn't give him a chance, but he had a damn good chance. He was just in there with one of the greatest punchers ever, and he got overconfident.''

No one in boxing history had more knockouts than Archie Moore, who took out a staggering 131 opponents in his 28-year career but failed in two attempts to win the heavyweight belt at an elderly 41 and 42.

Moore came close in 1955. He knocked down and hurt Rocky Marciano in the second round, but the undefeated champion got to his feet and knocked Moore down three times, the last for good in the ninth round. Moore always maintained he would've won had the referee not brought Marciano to his senses by shaking his arms.

The next year, vying for the vacant heavyweight title, Moore was knocked out by Floyd Patterson.

``Moore was just too old,'' Kaplan said. ``I had the privilege of spending time with Moore before the (Marciano) fight, and he just appeared to be an old man to me. When he got the fight with Marciano, I thought, `Poor Archie.'

``He did well, though. He took a lot of punishment and hung in there.''

Foster, a lanky 6-foot-3, was a devastating puncher at 175 pounds. He knocked out 46 of his 56 opponents. However, he left his power in the lower weight class when he moved up to heavyweight. He lost not only to Frazier and Ali but also to heavyweight contenders Doug Jones, Zora Folley and Ernie Terrell. Only Jones failed to knock him out.

Foster officially weighed in at 188 pounds when he tried to take Frazier's title in 1970 but admitted he wore a 10-pound weight belt on the scale ``to make Frazier think I weighed more.'' Frazier weighed 209 pounds, 31 more than Foster, about the difference expected for Saturday's Jones-Ruiz fight.

Foster wasn't afraid but understood the challenge.

``When you look over at the opposite corner and see Joe Frazier standing there, you know you're in trouble,'' he said. He was right: Frazier took him out in two rounds with a big left hook.

Two years later, Foster fought Ali for the NABF heavyweight crown - with an even bigger weight difference - and was stopped in eight rounds.

``I hit Ali with two right hands back to back,'' Foster said. ``The average light heavyweight, I would've knocked out with that shot. Like I said, heavyweights are just big and strong. The guy never hurt me. He had me down seven, eight times, but his punch didn't feel like electricity was going through my body.

``The guy was so fast, so big, his punches just kept me off balance, and he kept dropping me.''

Spinks, a 1976 Olympic gold medalist as a middleweight, was a fine light heavyweight but wasn't given much of a chance against then-unbeaten heavyweight champ Larry Holmes in 1985 even though Holmes was 36 and declining.

However, Spinks, who methodically had bulked up to a solid 200 pounds (22 fewer than Holmes) with the help of fitness trainer Mackie Shilstone, was skillful enough, young enough and perhaps just big to enough make things difficult for the champ.

Spinks simply outhustled Holmes, consistently maneuvering out of harm's way and scoring just enough to win a controversial 15-round decision and make history. He did it again six months later.

``Michael was a great athlete,'' said Shilstone, who has worked with Jones for Saturday's fight. ``Michael always told me, `I'm not a fighter, I'm a boxer.' He was enthralled with the art of boxing.

``And I think the added weight made him a better athlete. He eventually outgrew the light-heavyweight division. I'm not saying he's a natural heavyweight, but I don't think he was born to be 175. He's too tall (6-foot-2). Michael is probably a cruiserweight (190 pounds).''

Jones, however, is a natural light heavyweight. He'll be lucky to weigh 190, while Ruiz will come in at least 220, which will put Jones in the same position as his predecessors: at a dangerous disadvantage in terms of strength and probably punching power.

Jones knows it and, with a sense of history in mind, relishes it. He plans to succeed where all but Spinks failed.

``That's what got me into this,'' he said. ``I'm reaching for the sky.''

AT A GLANCE

Who: John Ruiz vs. Roy Jones Jr. for Ruiz's WBA heavyweight title

When: Saturday

Where: Caesars Palace, Las Vegas

TV: Pay-per-view, telecast scheduled to start at 6 p.m.

Also: Winky Wright will defend his IBF junior-middleweight title against J.C. Candelo.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) Former light-heavyweight champion Bob Foster, left, was one of the greatest to fight in his division. But against heavyweights such as Muhammad Ali, right, he struggled.

Associated Press

(2) John Ruiz has reason to smile heading into his fight against Roy Jones Jr. on Saturday. Only one light heavyweight has moved up to win a heavyweight title.

Ethan Miller/Associated Press

Box:

AT A GLANCE