R uiz' Corner has announced that John "The Quietman" Ruiz, the uncrowned heavyweight champion of the world, has signed a contract with promoter Don King for a rematch against WBA heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield in January.

Ruiz lost a controversial 12-round decision August 12 to Holyfield in Las Vegas. "Due to all the controversy about the decision," Ruiz' manager Norman 'Stoney' Stone said, "everybody believes that this is a deserving rematch. We just don't want [Richard] Steele refereeing again. Holyfield and [his advisor] Jim Thomas are honorable men and we believe they'll sign. It should be a mandatory defense, too. The WBA's No. 1 slot is not rated and John [No. 5] is the highest ranked available contender. No. 2 Wladimir Klitschko captured the WBO championship from Chris Byrd last Saturday [Oct. 14], No. 3 Oleg Maskaev recently [Oct. 7] was knocked out by Kirk Johnson, and No. 4 David Tua has WBC & IBF title fight against champion Lennox Lewis coming up November 11."

"We've asked the WBA to make it a mandatory defense," Stone added.