ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- In his first bout since his drubbing at the hands of Roy Jones Jr. in March, John Ruiz was back to his old tricks against Hasim Rahman, and in typical style, he won ugly, taking a unanimous nod over "The Rock" in a bout that lived down to all expectations.

Scores were 118-110, 115-114, and 116-112 for Ruiz, who ups his record to 39-6-1 with 27 KOs. Rahman drops to 35-5-1 with 29 KOs.

"It felt like an ugly fight," admitted Ruiz. "I apologize to the fans because I always want to give my best. I wobbled him in the second round, but I needed to be careful because everytime I wobbled him, he came back at me with wild right hands."

"I can't always look good," Ruiz said. "Some fights are grueling fights. I need an easier fight to look pretty."

With the victory, Ruiz nabs the interim WBA heavyweight title, with the full title to go in his name if Jones refuses to fight him.

Please, Roy, refuse.

This one was ugly from the start, with the requisite clinches, headlocks, and other assorted foul tactics. To his credit, referee and 70's heavyweight Randy Neumann did his best to keep order, but to no avail.

Ruiz landed the first telling blow of the fight in the second, briefly stunning Rahman with a left hand, but the Massachusetts native was unable to capitalize.

The jab and grab tactics continued from both sides in round three, with only sporadic clean action, but as the bout entered the middle rounds, Ruiz took all that Rahman dished out and came back firing with solid shots of his own that shook "The Rock."

Between rounds five and six, Ruiz got a tongue lashing from trainer Norman Stone, but it was the same old "Quiet Man" once the bell rang. Unfortunately for Rahman, the same old Ruiz was wearing him down and beating him to the punch repeatedly.

Frustrated and burnt out from Ruiz' unorthodox attack, Rahman tried to mount an offensive, but was smothered and foiled at every turn. Finally in the ninth, Rahman saw some light and briefly hurt Ruiz, but by the time he loaded up for a follow-up, Ruiz was draped all over him, again nullifying the action.

Ruiz jabbed effectively in the tenth, beating Rahman to the draw with regularity, yet each effective shot was followed only by a clinch, and the boos rained from the packed crowd.

With Ruiz tiring and bloody in the eleventh, Rahman got some breathing room, but not enough to mount a serious attack. The twelfth frame was just as bad as the previous eleven, and by the time the final bell rang, those who even cared about the verdict had already left for the concession stands.

"I won the fight," said Rahman. "I controlled the fight. I threw the more effective punches. He wasn't even trying to make it a fight. That decision is crazy."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.