Talking Boxing with NORMAN 'STONEY' STONE
Will WBA champ John Ruiz knockout Andrew Golota? Norman Stone, "Yes!"
by Julius Stecker
11/3 - In his first title defense of the WBA belt the second time around, John Ruiz scored an impressive 11th round TKO over Fres Oquendo, the same Oquendo who gave IBF champion Chris Byrd troubles in a disputed decision in September, 2003. November 13th on the "Battle for Supremecy" Don King pay-per-view card, the 32-year old Ruiz takes on Andrew Golota, who himself fought Byrd to a disputed draw back in April on the Ruiz-Oquendo card. Why not unify with Byrd so fans can see an end to this madness? "Golota is one of the top heavyweights in the world," said Ruiz' trainer Norman Stone, but the unifying is just around the corner. Lets face it, Ruiz, who is working hard in the gym, wants to unify, but understands he has a very tough opponent in front of him on November 13th. "We'd like to fight the Byrd-[Jameel] McCline winner to get the IBF belt and then take on [Vitali] Klitschko," Stone told TalkingBoxing.com. Here's hoping these titles can be unified soon.

NORMAN 'STONEY' STONE

TalkingBoxing: How is John looking?

All along our goal has been to unify the title

Norman Stone

Norman Stone: Great. He's ready to do. Training and sparring has gone very well.

TalkingBoxing: What are you expecting from Andrew Golota?

Norman Stone: A tough fight. Golota is one of the top heavyweights in the world.

TalkingBoxing: Do you expect dirty Golota tactics?

Norman Stone: No. But we're prepared if he does.

TalkingBoxing: If John wins will he look to unify?

Norman Stone: When John wins we'll sit down with Don King to talk about the next step. All along our goal has been to unify the title. We'd like to fight the [Chris] Byrd-[Jameel] McCline winner to get the IBF belt and then take on [Vitali] Klitschko. Johnny Ruiz will be the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. That's what we've wanted all along.

TalkingBoxing: Will John knockout Golota?

Norman Stone: Yes!

TalkingBoxing: What can John's fans expect against Golota?

Norman Stone: A great performance; his best ever. John's never felt better, physicaly and mentally, for a fight and he's determined to show the world that he is the best heavyweight. We've been working hard on a lot of different things I can't talk about right now. But I promise you that John will be the fighter everybody's talking about Nov. 13.

A special thanks to Bob Trieger for helping out tremendously!

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