John Ruiz heavyweight , the World champion Boxing Association, is the – Rodney Dangerfield of boxing: He don’t get no respect. A lot of that is his own fault. Each time Ruiz nears public acceptance, he loses big.

His first disaster came on a 1996 HBO card styled “Night of the Young Heavyweights,” when he was obliterated by David Tua in 19 seconds. Over the next seven years, Ruiz fought his way back to take the WBA title from Evander Holyfield and successfully defend it against Kirk Johnson. Then, in March 2003, he was totally outclassed by Roy Jones. Since then, Ruiz has regained and held onto the WBA crown by defeating Hasim Rahman, Fres Oquendo, and Andrew Golota.

Ruiz (41-5-1, 28 KOs) gets another chance to establish himself as a top-tier fighter when he defends his WBA heavyweight title against James “Lights Out” Toney (68-4-2, 43 KOs) on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden. If he beats Toney convincingly, it will put him in the thick of the heavyweight picture.

Ruiz is a good heavyweight, but not a great one by the standards of any era. Toney, on the other hand, once seemed destined for greatness. He knocked out Michael Nunn for the International Boxing Federation middleweight title in 1991 and successfully defended it six times. Next, he moved up in weight and KO’d Iran Barkley for the IBF super-middleweight crown. By late 1994, Toney was undefeated in 46 fights and near the top of most “pound-for-pound” lists. Then he lost to Roy Jones in a bout that Jones dominated from start to finish.

In the past 12 1/2 years, Toney has had only one fight that the public cared about, an October 2003 demolition of Evander Holyfield. Since then, injuries have kept him on the shelf for all but one fight (a desultory 12-round decision over Rydell Booker).

Toney is a trash-talker. At the kickoff press conference for his fight against Ruiz, Mr. T. told the assembled media, “The heavyweight division is garbage now. I’m coming in to clean up the garbage. Playtime is over with. Just let the bell ring, and I’ll take care of him. We can do it the easy way, or we can do it the hard way. And trust me; Ruiz don’t want to do it the hard way. I got knockouts all the way from middleweight to heavyweight. I’m so powerful, I’m like a goddamn elephant. As soon as I hit him flush, he goes.”

Asked for more, the bombastic Toney said, “Fans come to see blood and guts, and that’s what I give them. I’m gonna destroy John Ruiz for the fans. He’s boring, so he’s gotta go. I’m gonna knock Ruiz out, I promise. You’ll never see this guy again, and you can all consider it a personal favor from James Toney.”

Most of the boxing establishment – and in particular HBO, which will televise the fight – is rooting for Toney. It’s not that they love James and his big mouth. It’s that he’s not John Ruiz. A Toney victory would inject some life into the moribund heavyweight division and make future “championship” matchups, including a possible tournament among alphabet-soup belt holders, more interesting to watch.

Ruiz isn’t a talker. And he’s not pretty in the ring, either. His style is to burrow in, throw one punch at a time, grab, maul, wrestle, and hold. Still, it’s an effective strategy that has frustrated many of his opponents.

“The more I watch John Ruiz, the more impressed I am,” says IBF heavyweight titleholder Chris Byrd. “He finds ways to make you fight his fight. I have no idea how that happens, but he draws guys in. They’re off-balance and uncomfortable and, next thing you know, he’s hurt the guy.”

Toney says that won’t happen to him.

“Styles mean nothing to me,” he said at the kick-off press conference. “I’ve had 74 pro fights. I’ve seen every style in the world. I don’t see Ruiz fighting me any different from the way he fights everyone else. He fights like he’s retarded; hug and hold. And for me, it will be uppercut city. He’ll have a bad case of whiplash when I’m done. I’ll eat him up like Pac-Man all night.”

Maybe; maybe not. Toney is tough, skilled, and good on the inside, which is where everyone except Roy Jones has wound up fighting Ruiz. He’s a good counter-puncher and he takes a good punch. Like Bernard Hopkins, Toney breaks people down and beats them up.

But Toney is 36 years old – Ruiz is 33 – and has been through two surgeries and two long layoffs as a consequence of a torn left biceps and torn left Achilles tendon. Ruiz’s style of holding, grabbing, wrestling, and mauling will test Toney’s fragile limbs, perhaps more than his punches will test Toney’s chin.

Also, Toney’s win over Holyfield looks less impressive in the context of Holyfield’s deterioration over the past seven years. His other signature triumph – his 2003 “Fight of the Year” struggle with Vassiliy Jirov – lost its shine in the wake of Jirov’s subsequent one-punch demolition at the hands of Michael Moorer. And perhaps most important, James is known for coming into fights out-of-shape and fighting lethargically.

In sum, Toney does less with more, while Ruiz does more with less. Thus, more than in most fights, conditioning will dictate the outcome. If Toney enters the ring in top shape, he should win. But there’s a good chance he won’t be in shape, which means the bout could degenerate into an ugly 12-round shoving contest.

James Toney knows exactly what to expect from John Ruiz. If he doesn’t prepare properly and loses, he’ll have no one to blame but himself.