Early Christmas Present for Fight Fans

As if John Ruiz losing his title to Nicolay Valuev wasn't enough of an early Christmas present for fight fans, now comes this ... Ruiz has (finally) chosen to sever ties with longtime manager and walking timebomb Norman Stone. It will be announced as Stone's "retirement" but the real reason behind the split was the increasing strife within the Ruiz camp. It got so bad, in fact, that Ruiz threatened to return to the U.S. during the week leading up to his loss to Valuev in Berlin, Germany. Stone's loyal support helped Ruiz earlier in his career but his increasingly unpredictable behavior has made him a distraction and a liability. Let's just hope Stone's retirement is for real. Boxing will be better off without him.