was razor ruddock a shot fighter when he faced lewis and morrison ??

There were no signs that Ruddock was "shot" going in to the Lewis fight. In fact, he was largely expected to beat Lewis, with ease. Many in the world expected him to go on to beat Holyfield too.
He may have been slightly past his best and diminished, but he wasn't shot.

Truth is, Ruddock wasn't much good to start with. Overrated, hyped, based on a couple of spectacular wins over has-beens.
The whole Ruddock myth was further enhanced by the Tyson myth. People who were still besotted by Tyson's "invincibility" (despite the fact that Douglas had already beaten him up!) figured that anyone who could give him a decent fight was something special.
..... and then when Lewis destroys him in two rounds, the only explanation for the Tyson/Ruddock fanboys is to give all credit to Tyson for "ruining" him. In technical terms, I think they call that a circle jerk.

 

For whatever it's worth, in Tyson's book he said he couldn't finish off Ruddock in the 2nd fight because he crash dieted to get his weight down for the fight and was drained. Lewis got him out of there because of the accuracy of his punches. I think the Morrison stoppage was legit. Maybe in the old days it would have been allowed to continue. Look at it this way and it sounds like a pretty routine stoppage, He was BRUTALLY knocked down and then laid against the ropes and had his head snapped back a couple more times without even trying to punch back.

 

Here we go, another bull**** excuse. Richie Giachetti took no bull**** and had Tyson in tip top condition don't you worry about that. Tyson was far from impressive in the 2nd bout although he did land good body shots. Holyfield at that time would have stopped both Ruddock and Tyson, that I have no doubt.

 

True Ruddock was way overhyped and wasn't that good at all but he had plenty of heart, I'm sure he received the broken jaw in the 2nd round and Tyson still couldn't put him away unlike Lewis who wiped him out, no biggie.

 

Erm have you stopped to think that maybe, just maybe the whole idea of the thread was an excuse for Tyson freaks to come out spouting about their hero?

Nice idea, mention 3 other fighters, and let the Tyson goons hijack the thread. Bit transparent though.

 

Indeed. While an aging Greg Page and Phil Jackson were not the best display of Ruddock's skills he still dispatched them convincingly and showed up for Lewis in sculpted condition. What happened was the result of a stylistic mismatch more so than that of one fighter being diminished. Against Morrison however, he was basically a retired or semi-retired fighter who had appeared only once in two and half years and against a journeyman who he looked lackluster against. He was also well beyond his best weight and yet still may have been the victim of an early stoppage.

 

I hear about Meldrick Taylor having his career ruined by Chavez and believe it was true.. I also think that Ruddock had a lot of his career tied up and cut short due to the fights with Tyson... feel Lewis was a better fighter for sure than Razor... Tommy was not a better fighter in my opinion in a head to head fight with Ruddock with both in their primes

 

You mad?

 

i think it was Larry Merchant who said he was not going to pick Ruddock over Lewis because his best achievement was actually a loss.

I think Lampley and Foreman summed it up best after the Lewis fight saying they had hyped Ruddock purely because of two tough losses to a guy who wasn't quite at his best anymore.

Also you have to consider, Tyson hit Ruddock with more body shots and power punches than anyone else in Tysons career.

Tyson definitely took a lot out of Ruddock and of course Lewis isn't exactly featherfisted himself.

Also, i believe at the time of fighting Lewis, Ruddock was being trained by Patterson and they were busy changing his style. foreman was commentating and said Ruddock looks confused as to whether he should box or brawl.

 

He had time enough to be confused?? lol

As to whether or not he was shot, if you're a Lewis fan the answer is no and if you're a Lewis hater (or a Tyson fan) the answer is yes.

The fact that he knocked out two fighters prior to facing Lewis, tells me he wasn't completely shot. I think he just got hit by a clean Lewis punch, was hurt, and Lewis wouldn't let up on him. It happens, especially in the heavyweight division.

Might be a size issue as well.

Tyson could never have gotten that much leverage on an overhand right to the head that Lewis hit him with. He could catch him with uppercuts and other punches, but that particular punch required Lewis' height, reach and power to pull it off and I suspect that Razor wasn't expecting this type of punch to be coming his way.

 

Razor Rud**** was a 1 armed bandit.

 

I was referring to the Foremans comments during the fight where he felt Ruddock adopted a much more patient approach unlike against Tyson where he pounced pretty much as soon as the bell rang.

Im in between, as i mentioned before, Ruddock wasn't necessarily shot but he wasn't the same fighter he was. Yes he knocked out a couple of guys but were they anywhere near world class level?

 

Not particularly. Phil Jackson and Greg Page were both past their best days and in general I agree with your assessment.

 

You hit the nail on the head, someone who knows there boxing. If you watch the Tyson fights, especially the second. You'll see Tyson reaching out trying to land on Ruddock but he's falling short on all his punches, it's like a child trying to hit a man, Ruddock held his hands up and Tyson had no answer for it. Ruddock was far from shot against Lewis it's just he met a man who had the size and skillet that could dismantle him in short order.