LAS VEGAS -- Roy Jones Jr. surprised John Ruiz by not running. There was nothing surprising about the masterful skills he used to become a heavyweight champion.

So confident in his heavyweight debut that he was mocking Ruiz much of the fight, Jones stood in front of Ruiz and simply outboxed him Saturday night to win the WBA heavyweight title.

Jones not only made history by becoming the second light heavyweight champion to win a piece of the heavyweight title, he did it with seeming ease against a man who outweighed him by 33 pounds.

"This means that I am the baddest," Jones said. "Only Ali can shock the world like I did."

In a fight that had moments of action and long lulls between punches, Jones won a unanimous -- and lopsided -- 12-round decision to take the WBA title against a bigger man who was never able to use his size to his advantage.

It was enough to impress another heavyweight champion at ringside, Lennox Lewis, though it may have been Jones' only fight as a heavyweight.

"Roy Jones is a worthy heavyweight," Lewis said. "I was very impressed with the way he handled himself. Whether he can do that against me is another matter entirely."

Jones stood in the middle of the ring and outpunched Ruiz, though neither fighter was very busy in a fight that drew occasional boos from a crowd eager for action.

"Everybody said I was going to run. I knew I wasn't going to run," Jones said.

Jones not only didn't run, but he stood and mocked Ruiz, finally smiling and laughing at him as the final minute ticked down.

It wasn't always spectacular, but it was good enough to give him a piece of the fractured title.

"I did this fight to make history," Jones said. "I said I wasn't going to change my style. Roy Jones doesn't change his style until he loses."

By the middle rounds, Jones (48-1) was taunting Ruiz (38-5-1) and standing in front of him, daring him to trade punches. When Ruiz did manage to land anything, Jones usually got out of the way quickly before returning for another flurry.

Ruiz complained that referee Jay Nady told him he couldn't hit on the break and didn't allow him to fight his kind of fight.

"How can I give him (Jones) any credit when the referee wouldn't let me fight my fight?" Ruiz said. "Everytime I went in, the referee was accusing me of holding."

Jones became the first light heavyweight champion to win the heavyweight title since Michael Spinks did it in 1985 against Larry Holmes.

But he said he doubted he would remain champion long. Jones, who weighed 199 before the fight, said his move to the heavyweight ranks was likely a one-time deal.

"I didn't want to become a heavyweight," Jones said. "I just wanted one fight. I have to see what's on the table for me."