John Ruiz, the Frankenstein of the heavyweight division, the antithesis of an aesthetically-pleasing fighter, takes on James "Lights Out" Toney, a man who in his prime could stand right in front of you and make you miss, this Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Ruiz, 41-5-1 (28), is the man who just won't go away. You could throw him off the top floor of a 200-storey building, and he'd come back up in the elevator to greet you. But for this he deserves credit. After being humiliated by Roy Jones Jr. in 2003, many thought (hoped) that Ruiz would go gently into the night and take his quack, potty-mouth trainer Norman Stone with him. But Ruiz strung together some ugly wins - over Kirk Johnson (on fouls), Fres Oquendo (a stinker), Hasim Rahman (a legitimate win, but hardly decisive) and Andrew Golota (the foul-Pole was robbed). The ironic thing about Ruiz's last win over Golota was that although he should not have won that fight, he actually boxed well (by Ruiz standards), employing less clutch-and-grab tactics (by Ruiz standards) and more combination punching.

Toney, 68-4-2 (43), like Jones a former middleweight, is hoping to repeat his fomer opponents feat of beating a ranked heavyweight for his alphabet title. Toney squandered what should have been the best years of his professional career by ballooning in weight and fighting sporadically, but has the skills to outbox Ruiz. He also said that he would not allow Ruiz to jab and hold, as he does other opponents. And he said he'd knock Ruiz out.

If Toney, who is no stranger to food, is in shape and performs the way he did in knocking out a faded Evander Holyfield, it could be a very interesting fight. Both Ruiz and Toney are small heavyweights, and Ruiz is usually in pretty good shape for his fights. During the press conference, Toney promised to get rid of Ruiz, who he called a piece of "garbage", and his manager too. Toney is even more animated and loquacious than "Stoney", and one would think that a fight between those two would be a more intriguing matchup.

At 36, Toney is three years Ruiz's senior. His body is beginning to wear, as recent injuries have shown, perhaps due to excessive weightlifting. But if James Toney is as good as he says he is, Ruiz is about to lose his title to yet another former middleweight. And hopefully that would be enough to retire Ruiz from the game of boxing.

But I doubt it.

Prediction: Toney by decision