Las Vegas, NV (BoxingGurus.com) - Last August, John "The Quiet Man" Ruiz thought he had won the WBA Heavyweight Championship from Evander Holyfield, but the old veteran came through in the late rounds to win a close decision. Well, now they meet again this Saturday night (March 3rd) for the same title in Las Vegas, NV on SET (Showtime's PPV arm) at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.

BoxingGurus.com was at the first fight and had the fight scored 115-113 in favor of Evander "Real Deal" Holyfield. Judges at ringside had it 114-113, 114-113, and 116-112. Holyfield (37-4-1, 25 KO) hurt Ruiz five different times throughout the fight, but just could not seem to put him away. In the 12th round, Holyfield apparently knocked down Ruiz with a good right hand, but the referee said it was a slip. Ruiz held Holyfield the rest of the round obviously showing the signs of being hurt.

Both promise things will be different this time around. "I came very close to achieving my lifelong goal of winning a world heavyweight title in August," Ruiz said. "I will win it this time."

The fighters are set for their second showdown.   Steve Marcus (Reuters)

"The Evander Holyfield era is not over," Holyfield said. "I know I can do better than I did in our last fight. Give Ruiz credit, he fought a very good fight."

Holyfield holds the WBA Heavyweight Title given to him by a court, not by earning it in the ring. Holyfield lost to Lennox Lewis on November 13, 1999 in a unification bout for the WBA, WBC and IBF belts. The WBA wanted Lewis to defend his belts against John Ruiz, but Lewis wanted to defend them against more universally known number one contenders (Michael Grant and David Tua). By stepping into the ring to defend his belts against Michael Grant on April 29, 2000, Lewis had his WBA belt taken away from him. The WBA then matched the two top contenders together to fight for the vacant belt. That match was Evander Holyfield/John Ruiz on August 12, 2000 at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas, NV. Holyfield won a unanimous 12 round decision.

ON THE UNDERCARD:

Tim Austin (21-0-1, 19 KO) will defend his IBF Bantamweight Title against #1 contender Jesus Perez (20-0-2, 11 KO). This will be Austin's sixth defense of his tile and Perez's American debut.

Christy "The Coal Miner's Daughter" Martin (41-2, 31 KO) will face Jeanne Martinez (13-4-2, 4KO) in a ten round battle. With a win, Martin could be in line for the ultimate women's Pound-4-Pound fight versus Lucia Rijker.

Former WBC Lightweight champion Miguel Angel Gonzalez (44-2-1, 34 KO) will try to position himself for another title shot against battle tested Manuel Gomez (17-10, 16 KO). Gonzalez has fought great competition, losing to Oscar De La Hoya and Kostya Tszyu while fighting to a draw against Julio Cesar Chavez. Gomez has been in the ring against Shane Mosley, losing a tough bout by a 11th round TKO.