BEIJING -- China, promoter Don King likes to say, has waited 5,000 years for a heavyweight championship bout. Now it'll have to wait a little longer: "The Quiet Man" is hurting.

China's first heavyweight title fight was postponed Friday after John Ruiz injured his neck during training to defend his WBA title against Evander Holyfield. No new date was set for the bout that was scheduled for Aug. 5 in Beijing.

"There are things you can't help in life and this is one of them," Ruiz said at a news conference. "I definitely want to apologize to the people of China. No one is more disappointed than myself."

Ruiz first complained of a stiff neck Tuesday evening. His condition had worsened by early Wednesday, manager Norman Stone said. By Friday morning, King said, Ruiz was "almost ... paralyzed, and he was suffering excruciating pain."

The bout had been eagerly awaited in China, a nation of rabid sports-lovers. The fighters and promoters insisted it will go forward.

"This fight definitely will take place," said Niu Lixin, King's Chinese co-promoter. He said he wanted a plan in place by early next week.

"This is not unusual in the sport of boxing. It happens every now and then," countered King, fingering a thick unlit cigar.

Ruiz sat ramrod-straight for more than an hour during the news conference, his eyes cast down toward his water bottle or staring into space. Given his usual silence, it was hard to tell how much he was hurting. Holyfield, by contrast, posed for photographers and offered occasional bemused grins at the Chinese spoken around him.

"Injuries are a part of boxing," Holyfield said. "John was very gracious when I suffered an injury before our first fight was postponed. I know he came to Beijing to fight and when he's ready, so am I."

The fight would have been the third between Ruiz and Holyfield for the WBA title. Ruiz became champion by outpointing Holyfield on March 3.

Other major heavyweight fights -- including the 1974 George Foreman-Muhammad Ali bout in Zaire known as the "Rumble in the Jungle" and a previous Ruiz-Holyfield match -- have been postponed because of injury and later held.

Stone said Ruiz didn't want to bow out and even spirited three doctors to his room, hoping for good news. It didn't come.

"It was just one of those things where we were working out and he strained a muscle," Stone said.

After examining Ruiz, a team of doctors led by Qu Mianyu of Peking University declared him unfit to fight. Dr. Bruce Beattie of Beijing International SOS Clinic found "evidence of degeneration of the spine, particularly on the right side," and inflammation that causes muscle spasms. He said Ruiz needed rest.

"Give us six to eight weeks and we'll be back," Stone told reporters.

Fight or no fight, the promotion offered the strange juxtaposition of communist China and the never-boring Don King. King has at turns appeared in traditional Chinese garb, quoted revolutionary leader Mao Tse-tung and cast himself as an outlandish ambassador of American spunk who can help bring the United States and China together during a period of diplomatic tension.

"I love the Chinese people and I wanted to see them be part of history," King said. "This relationship is the embodiment of Chairman Mao when he said, `Friendship first, competition second."'

Ruiz assured China that he'd be back to fight another day -- when he was at 100 percent.

"I'm right now at 50. I couldn't put on the show I would love to put on," Ruiz said. "I will come back and show you the fight that didn't happen. It's going to be a great show."

Information from Reuters was used in this report.