Chris Byrd has an interesting perspective on this upcoming novelty act between Roy Jones and John Ruiz. Jones, the undisputed light heavyweight champion, is challenging for the Quietman's WBA heavyweight title this Saturday night at the Thomas and Mack Arena in Las Vegas.

Byrd stands in line to take on the winner (although, it's much more likely he'd get a crack at Ruiz than Jones) and can relate to both fighters. For the past decade Byrd has fought as a heavyweight after finishing his amateur career as a super middleweight.

Byrd has played the role of both Jones and Ruiz as a professional. He has often times played the role of the gutty little David going up against the Goliaths of the division. And like Ruiz, he has been considered a world-class heavyweight for the better part of the last five years.

For Byrd, it's clear what each man has to do to win on Saturday night.

For Jones to win, he has to "Box his butt off," said Byrd with a laugh. "Avoid any contact as far as clinches. And forget about the dancing-in-the-ring movement, make him miss but he's got to make him pay. He's got to come out and get respect early. If he goes out and hits John, the fight will settle down and John is going to have to respect what Roy's got because he's elusive, he's got handspeed, he's got great boxing skills. So if Roy can come out and establish himself, it could be an interesting fight."

And for Ruiz to come out victorious?

"Be aggressive," Byrd advised. "Lay on him. Grab him. John Ruiz is probably the roughest guy to fight in the division because I don't care how big you are, he's going to turn the fight into a street fight. You're in an alley fight. And the thing for John to do is don't ever let Roy get set. If the fight ever settles down, Jones wins, easily."

So it's clear that Byrd feels as though Roy has to accentuate his skills and slow the pace, while Ruiz must impose his physicality and make Jones work hard for all three minutes of every round. One of the more intriguing factors off this bout is just what weight Jones will come in at? Will he try to retain as much speed as possible and come in as a light heavy or will he try and add a few pounds to face a much bigger man and the pounding he might take?

"If it was me," said Byrd. "I'd come at 175. Why put on weight? I'm elusive, I got speed, I got the best boxing skills in the world, stay the same way because in the heavyweight division, especially moving up and never fighting as a heavyweight, if you put on extra weight as the fight goes on, you're going to get tired and it's going to wear you down.

"Then everything's out the window, your skills, everything. So I'd just be smooth at the same weight, be elusive and do the things I do best at that weight, that's my opinion."

But Byrd seems to think that Ruiz's natural advantage in size will be the difference.

"The thing I was saying about the bigger man, I'm at a disadvantage a lot of times fighting a lot bigger guys but I've fought over 35 heavyweight fights," Byrd explained. "With Roy, it's very unpredictable. It's the most interesting fight I've seen in a long time. Still, with the skills of Roy Jones, he could still pull off something spectacular but I just think John may be a lil' too big and rough for Roy to actually win rounds and be consistent enough to win the fight."

So should Jones have maybe taken a lesser fight as a heavyweight or perhaps a cruiserweight before taking on Ruiz?

"I don't think so," answered Byrd. "Go for the heavyweight title. Why not? Why take a risky fight with a bigger guy, and get knocked out by a non-heavyweight champ? If you're going to get knocked out, get knocked out by a guy you consider a heayvweight champion. So I think it's a smart move, try and make history, he's got the heart to do it, more power to him."

So what wins, skills or size? There's no doubt that Jones has all the advantages in skills and technique. But the question is, just what effect -- if any -- will that make against a guy who could be up to 40 pounds bigger than him?

Bob Foster, at 6-foot-3, was as big and as hard-punching a light heavyweight that has ever graced the ring. He routinely got drilled by heavyweights that weighed no more than 210 pounds -- but then, nobodies ever accused Ruiz of being in the same class of fighters as Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, or even Doug Jones or Zora Folley for that matter.

So will Jones win a stinkfest where he turns the bout into a track meet or will Ruiz do enough to maul and smother Jones? It makes for an interesting question but not necessarily an interesting or entertaining fight.

MY PREDICTION

I was leaning heavily towards Ruiz early on, but I keep thinking to myself, 'Would Roy possibly take a fight where he isn't positive that he's going to win, regardless of the payday?' And my answer is no, his ego simply wouldn't allow it.

And despite the size differential, the difference in skill is greater. This isn't Billy Conn challenging Joe Louis, it's Jones taking on a guy most consider a mediocre heavyweight, at best.

I think Jones wins a fight where he goes in circles faster than any of the racers that are taking part in the NASCAR race in Las Vegas that weekend to take a boring and uneventful 12-round decision.

ESPN2 VS. NSAC

The battle continues between 'Friday Night Fight's and the Nevada State Athletic Commission over the role of Tony Alamo Jr. -- whose father is a big-wig at the Mandalay Bay.

Letters and demands of retractions have been going back and forth and even Sen. John McCain has thrown his two cents into the fray. Now, the ESPN2 crew will be in Las Vegas this weekend to cover Jones-Ruiz and Teddy Atlas, who has been banging the drums hard on this issue says they have offered the NSAC an opportunity to give their side of the story on the air.

"Yeah, we've offered them to come on and make a statement, to give a rebuttal," said Atlas. "We've offered that the last couple of weeks, ESPN, and they've declined to do that. I don't know why but they have. So we're going to do what we've been doing since we started and offer it to them again and hope that somebody, Marc Ratner, or any of the commissioners who represent the commission will come on and represent their decisions on the air."

Ratner says that his commission will be accepting that invitation.

"Yes, I believe the attorney general, who handles the athletic commission, Keith Kizer, will appear on the air with them this Friday night," Ratner said.

Atlas, like many others, feels as though it's a terrible conflict of interest to have Alamo Jr. on the commission because the Mandalay Bay is a licensed promoter and he votes on issues that could effect his father's interest.

"Here's a simple analogy," said Atlas, "take George Steinbrenner of the Yankees. Now, if his son was the head of the Umpires Union, obviously baseball would move to strike that, saying there's a conflict of interest.

You can't have your son running the umpire's union when you own a baseball team and those umpires will be regulating that team. Baseball, wouldn't allow it, common sense wouldn't allow it, but baseball couldn't afford it because it would have a credibility issue with the fans.

"It's the same situation here, it's an obvious conflict of interest but how come nobody does anything? Because it's boxing. Nobody cares because we've regulated ourselves to a position over the years where people say 'That's boxing. Just leave them alone, that's how they are'. Nobody cares."

But Ratner doesn't seem to understand the recent outcry over Alamo and his position.

"He became a commissioner over 18 months ago and nothing has changed," Ratner said. "He has had votes for the last 18 months and nothing untorrid has shown, so I don't know what triggered all this. The chairman is obviously the guy in the spotlight but each commissioner has only one vote."

WEEKEND THOUGHTS

* Former two-time lightweight titlist Stevie Johnston looked very sharp in stopping Ever Beleno in six rounds this past Friday on Telefutura. He may not be in his prime but 'Lil but Bad' is still a world-class 135 pounder.

By the way, I couldn't believe that 'Telefutura' actually had a bout where the black guy was the 'A' side and not the overmatched opponent for a Latin fighter.

What's next, '50 Cent' or 'Nas' on the Nashville Network?

* Lost in all the hysteria that was Mike Tyson's blowout of Clifford Etienne on Saturday night, was a pretty good fight card at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, California.

Martin Castillo and Orlando Salido looked good in posting wins but prospect Steven Lueveno caught my eye with an impressive first-round stoppage over Marcos Badillo. Lueveno, who lost to Rocky Juarez in the 2000 Olympic Trials, is Top Rank's most improved prospect the past year or so.

Also on that bill, 2000 Mexican Olympian, Liborio Romero, was upset by Alberto Rossell in a four-round slugfest. Rossell gave Brian Viloria all he could handle back in November.

A GOOD READ

In the latest edition of ESPN the Mag, Tim Keown has penned an excellent piece on the travails of Johnny Tapia.