It says much about John Ruiz's profile as a world heavyweight champion that he could appear almost unnoticed at the Lennox Lewis-Hasim Rahman fight in Las Vegas.

The 29-year-old happily signed autographs while the press chased Lewis for a quote following his convincing knockout of Rahman.

Ruiz's relative anonymity in boxing's landscape maybe due to a couple of factors.

The first is that the Boston-based heavyweight prefers a life of relative tranquillity, hence his nickname the "Quiet Man".

A retention of his titles through a draw in his third bout with Evander Holyfield did little to ehhance his reputation.

Lennox Lewis, by common consent, is the world's best, followed by Mike Tyson, Wladimir Klitschko, Kirk Johnson, Chris Byrd and David Tua.

If that list portrays a sad picture of Ruiz's picture in the boxing firmament, bear in mind that Tua knocked him out in less than 30 seconds back in 1996.

Yet despite all the scepticism afforded to Ruiz's position as world champion, he has a title which at the very least makes a great deal of money.

And he is also the first Puerto Rican holder of the world heavyweight championship.

Among his early victims was former British Heavyweight Champion, Julius Francis, and he strengthened his links with Britain when he was briefly managed by Lewis' manager Frank Maloney.

Growing in stature

He won his first title, the WBC Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship, in June 1995 when he defeated Derek Roddy in London.

But it was not to last; the following March he was knocked out in the first round by Kiwi Tua, who was comprehensively beaten by Lewis in November 2000.

The defeat cast doubts over the strength of Ruiz's chin.

Although he has now gone the distance with Holyfield three times, many suspect that the "Quiet Man" may come severely unstuck against the division's bigger punchers.

Despite the Tua setback, Ruiz was unbowed and concentrated his career on the US.

In 1997 he defeated Jimmy Thunder to win the North American Boxing Federation belt, a title that he defended successfully twice, including a points defeat of Tony Tucker.

Growing in stature, he then set his sights on the WBA North American Heavyweight Championship, which he won in 1998 with a fourth round win over the late Jerry Ballard.

Unlucky to lose

He defended the title another three times, stopping his opponents on each occasion, to put himself in line for the WBA world belt.

When Holyfield testified in court to help strip Lewis of his WBA belt, the unsung Ruiz was selected to provide the 'Real Deal' with some perfunctory opposition on his way to a record fourth title.