Tim Witherspoon vs Razor Ruddock

I would go with the "Terrible" one on a late round stoppage, providing it was not the Witherspoon that faced the Jim Smith that knocked his tooth out!!

 

Witherspoon should win.
Ruddock was too basic, an overrated hype job.

 

'Spoon via UD

 

I actually wondered how this fight would have gone down back when they were both top 10 contenders circa 1990-91. Witherspoon was past his prime by this point while Ruddock was peaking, but if Tim was motivated and well trained I think it still could have been a great fight. Prime for prime I'd go with Witherspoon all the way, but only assuming that he was totally in the game.

 

Spoon ought to win this as he was a more complete fighter. I actually give the Ruddock who fought Smith a better shot than the more one-dimensional version who fought Tyson.
He had more about his game then and used his jab a lot more effectively.

 

I agree. While Razor looked more impressive later on with those smash knockouts that got the crowd's attention, he was much better tactically as a boxer and might have gone a step further in his career had he not abandoned those skills.

 

Absolutely. Taking Mike Tyson the distance and easily dispatching an aged but still competitive Dokes was nothing to scoff about. He definitely earned his status as a top contender.

 

Yeah but at the end of the day he fought foolishly, despite the best attempts of guys like Floyd Patterson to get him to go back to basics.
He made the Page fight a competitive one just by fighting a stupid fight.
Ruddock honestly just fought like a barroom brawler. Real shame.

 

Tim Witherspoon

 

Ruddock wasn't a hype job. He was simply a guy who lacked skills, but could often compensate for that lack of skill with his HUGE power.

He has a puncher's chance against Witherspoon, but Tim was the better technician and would likely win a decision.

 

True. Greg Page at that stage in his career NEVER should have given a man highly touted as a top contender that kind of trouble.

 

But that's just it...Ruddock did have skills; he chose not to use them much of the time.

 

Yep, you could see how frustrated Patrerson was in between rounds. He was imploring Ruddock to use his boxing skills and to do the things they had worked on in camp but it fell on deaf ears.