This is what I find frustrating. If Andy Ruiz can be a fat tub of lard, and still beat the best fighter in the world, what might he do if he actually had a spartan work ethic!!!!!!!!
I mean that happens with the best 140 guys moving up to the glamorous 147 division or 154 guys moving up to the prestigious 160 division. Cruiserweight could be more exciting with A) more promotion B) less splintered titles C) more of the best fighting the best. It's already a division casuals are unfamiliar with that leaves people confused when you mention it out loud ("what is that car lingo"...?). Even if heavyweight didn't exist these 3 issues would still hold back the cruiserweight division. Perhaps extending the limit from 200-220 could make things easier on men who are at that peculiar range of 5'10-6'1 who often end up carrying too much mass for light heavy and end up lacking the size to keep up with the behemoths at heavyweight. It could also help to change the name and call heavyweight "super heavyweight" where all the body builders and flabby plodders can slug it out to their hearts content.
Well it's hard to argue with Ruiz' success so far. Beating a relatively dominant strong prime champ like Joshua in such a devastating way is one of the most impressive title winning performances in decades. He has to shake off the ring rust in his tune up against Arreola and then he said he wishes to face Wilder. If he can beat Wilder, it's really hard to say what weight he "should" be at because that would mean he has beaten 2/3 of the best fighters of his era. Even if Wilder beats Ruiz in a rematch and/or Ruiz loses to Fury, beating 2/3 of the best fighters in your era is better than what 99% of boxers in history have accomplished. And if his career turns out that way then his best weight is whatever the average is for his best performances regardless of how grotesquely overweight he appears. The only way to really speculate on how much weight Ruiz should lose in the boxing sense would be if he were to win a fight against a decently skilled competent opponent whilst he weighed significantly less than his usual gargantuan 260-270 pound self.
There was a time when any man who couldn't get under 154lbs had to fight at heavyweight, and thee have always been guys in the Hasim Ramhan size range.
When was this? Light heavyweight has been around since my grandmother was in high school. When did I dispute that Rahman sized men have always existed? I was simply saying that ever since the creation of cruiserweight and the steady gradual increase in size of the average heavyweight, men in the 5'10-6'1 range have been the odd men out having a hard time finding their niche. The ones who can easily make cruiserweight stay there or cut even more and become weight bullies at 175. The ones who have a bulky and strong build end up needing to put on more weight and struggle with the behemoths.
The point that I was trying to make, is that the current weight classes, are much more lenient than the previous regimes. They are almost looking for a weight band, where a man can win something today. Once upon a time, you just had to fight the much bigger man, if you wanted to get anywhere! Your use of the term "weight bullies" is ironic in a historical context.
This would be a dream come true. Super heavyweight is really a new weight class. I agree. I hope history does not erase this revelation. in this day and age, I am starting to think he might have to stick with what works for him as an individual. I mean what is aesthetics? If Andy kicks joshuas butt looking the way he did so what? He was clearly the better man. I just hope history won’t erase what he did.
well it's the digital age and so many things are practically written in stone with how many things are recorded on youtube, boxrec, articles, etc so it would be hard to pretend like Ruiz was a nobody and change the narrative. Only way for that to happen would be is if Ruiz ends up going 0-5 constantly losing to the best fighters of his era and people will regard him as another 1 hit wonder like Buster Douglas. So it's honestly up to him.
A lot of the mythology doesn’t hold up under scrutiny: https://www.boxingforum24.com/threads/contemporary-evaluations-of-rocky-marciano.647401/page-8 https://www.boxingforum24.com/threa...nd-workout-regimen-1952.616023/#post-19440486
You hit the nail on the head. Foreman thought highly of Marciano and I would of thought those feelings would of been mutual from the other direction if Rocky had not of died when he did. The issue is with 3 in here who do nothing but run down Liston, Foreman, Ali, Tyson. Those are the biggest threats. The point I am making is that anyone who has boxed at any level would surely not degrade those mentioned, year after year. RockJim has pre-prepared statements for all of them which he repeats constantly. That is not a true boxing fan, it is something else which is not related to the skillsets and attributes of those types of fighter.
100℅ spot on. Myself and others have also been saying this too. As you say, even if he comes in at 215 or 220 without sacrificing anything, he's still not fast, still not elusive, still prone to cuts, still has baby T-rex arms. And he's still spotting the average heavyweight 15-25 pounds or so. It's asking just way too much. He'd be at best a moderately successful heavyweight, and even then I have my doubts. But seeing him as a light heavyweight is not inconceivable. He may drain himself getting to 175, but with 24 hours to replenish, he could easily gain what he lost and enter the ring at the weight he actually fought at. To me, that's a far more viable proposition. He could also fight at cruiserweight, though even there he'd be outsized by a fair few. But still, it would be possible. Heavyweight? As @choklab said, it's really a different division now. I think the fantasy persists because the great man would be seen as 'lesser' to fight in any other division other than the heavyweight division. I don't see why he should be. He still accomplished what he did, still had a great career, still became legendary. But he's too small by modern standards. Way too small. I think he'd be a beast at light heavyweight. Probably cruiserweight too. Isn't that enough?
@mrkoolkevin thanks for the links. Yes, this makes sense. No way did Rocky run 16 miles a day for fights. His feet would have been f*cked. They sure as hell didn't run in modern-day sneakers, that's for sure. I'm sure he covered the distance, but not all of it by running, as the link shows. And getting plenty of sleep I think has been undervalued until reasonably recently. Again, as the link shows, he did that. Makes perfect sense.
Well there's this: Assuming the source is valid, we can pretty much bury the myth Rocky was some sort of natural 200 pounder who had to "kill himself" with intense training to get down to his ideal fighting weight of 185-188. His own cook said his goal in camp was not to lose weight, and he seems to have eaten quite a lot all day. Kinda hard to burn the weight off while chowing down on lamb chops, fruit, tea, potatoes, etc all day. And running a mere 3 miles certainly won't help you burn 15 lbs, especially if you are leisurely walking throughout the run.
