How would this battle of left hookers go? both men at their best. Will it go to the scorecards????? I think Ruddock would stop Cooper. To me Ruddock showed he could give and take (Tyson) whereas Cooper gave but wasnt always able to take (Moorer, Bowe, Holyfield)
Cooper blew hot and cold around the time that Ruddock was making waves. He'd give guys like Evander, Mercer and Holy good fights, but lost in two rounds to Riddick Bowe. He might have hung in there for a while and made a decent fight out of it, but ultimately I think Ruddock wins by KO and probably sooner than later.
Cooper always found a way to lose his biggest fights, i doubt this would be an exception... Ruddock would most likely win But, it wouldn't be a walk in the park...
Do you think Ruddock/Bowe would have been a bit more interesting? I've always felt Bowe always seemed to be asleep in the first round (Cooper, Hide) and then woke up later. Holyfield also said one of the reasons he was so confident of beating Bowe in their first fight was because he used to spar Bowe and beat the sh** out of him and Bowe used to just go through the motions.
Yes. I think Ruddock vs Bowe would have been a crowd pleasing fight. These were two men who liked battling out on the inside and had the kind of strength, power and styles to bring the best out of each other. If forced to choose a winner I'd have to favor Bowe, but it would be one hell of a contest.
I think Bowe to me was a sleeping elephant (no pun intended), when he was asleep you could pretty much do what you wanted (Cooper, Hide), when he woke up though he trampled everything in his path. I think fighters who are heavily critisized perform much better than fighters who are loved and coddled by the media. Bowe, as good as he was seemed to get his hands too dirty in each fight when he easily could have boxed from a safe distant ala Lewis. And he really is in a sad state at the moment
He definitely took more punishment than what was necessary. Of course part of the beauty of him was his inside fight game which he executed spectacularly. But he also paid a huge price for it. A man of his reach and athleticism could have certainly learned to box better from the outside and its also a shame that Eddie Futch couldn't help him to shore up his defense as well.
Bowe was too happy to get in deep, against Holyfield this worked, because Holyfield with all due respect wasnt much of a puncher. But against the more dangerous guys like Tyson, Lewis or even Foreman, this may have proved costly. If there was one guy that could have smashed Lewis dominance in the 90's (late) it was Bowe. I think had Tyson not gone to prison, Bowe would have had no choice but to face Lewis, while Tyson/Holyfield shared a series of fights.
I think Cooper would give Ruddock hell for as long as the fight lasts but I think Ruddock would eventually get some power punches in and finish Cooper off.
Agreed. I love Bert Cooper and have a lot of time for Ruddock too. I think it would have been a real slugfest, the difference being that Cooper was extremely easy to hit. You could barely miss him. But Cooper had real knockout power in both hands, and was tough when on form. Ask guys like Mercer or Holyfield. He'd get his licks in, but I feel Ruddock overall was just a better fighter. Still, I see some real fireworks early on with both guys wobbled here and there, before Ruddock establishes supremacy and gets the stoppage.
I think Razor blows him out. Bert was never a real heavy, to begin with, and he simply was inconsistently motivated. He was a trial horse and Razor was a contender, plain and simple. I doubt Ruddock would've had much trouble finding Bert's chin with the big hook, and then it would be over.
I understand the logic and principle behind what you're saying and half agree with it. The problem however was that Holyfield, Moorer and Mercer were supposed to blow him out too, and didn't.. As you say however, Cooper was inconsistently motivated, so the only way I can see Ruddock dispatching him easily is if he caught him on a similar night that Foreman did.
I think Ruddock was too big for Cooper. Cooper did well against smaller heavies like Holyfield. I think Ruddock has a good 2nd round KO.
