Andy Ruiz is overrated. He is the next Hasim Rahman

Ruiz is still adjusting to a new style under Reynoso and lost too much weight too quickly which compromised his punch resistance, while Arreola (who has always been a big puncher) came in surprisingly motivated after a long layoff which helped his punch resistance recover. Ruiz was also overconfident thinking that a 40 year old, possibly shot to bits journeyman wouldn't pose any threat whatsoever.

At least these are the arguments if one is to defend Ruiz.

The first AJ fight showed that Ruiz at his best does have a good chin/powers of recovery and he obviously has very fast hands. But he is an almost uniquely limited fighter on account of his height (barely 6 foot) and reach (74 inches) deficiencies, combined with his atrociously poor footspeed and lack of agility. On top of all of that he lacks punching power as Serge has documented.

Ruiz is thus far too slow, stubby and easy to hit to consistently beat any heavyweight with a bit of range, footspeed and boxing skill. The only way he beats a decent heavyweight is if they are too slow/stubby to keep their distance and too chinny to take his relatively weak shots but if they have those negative characteristics it's very hard to consider them decent heavyweights. The only other way Ruiz wins is if you become overzealous and trade with him up close while not having good punch resistance. Ruiz would have a good chance against Whyte but a prime Szpilka would dance circles around him and cruise to a UD. I wouldn't really favour Ruiz against any legitimate top 20 heavyweight and there are some outside the top 20 who would school him.

 

I'll say this for Ruiz!

When he couldn't handle being HW champ for whatever reason, no ducking, no injury delays (or no meaningful ones), no positive steroid test, no three years of inactivity for a drug binge, he went and took his medicine.

After his loss, no autopsy, no conspiracy theories, minor trainer drama but went with another legit trainer, clearly worked on some of his issues and beat the guy in front of him.

Him and AJ both, faced adversity and did the right thing. So maybe there is hope for Andy!

 

I agree.

 

26 years old and you don't even know the difference between loose and lose, and you call me stupid?



Did your brain stop developing at 4 years old?

 

Agreed with you in the main, but Szpilka being favoured over Whyte? Not in a million years. Whyte would jab Ruiz's head off and tie him up on the inside. Szpilka would fall over in the dressing room.

 

A "prime Szpilka", a figment of your imagination and certainly a paradox.

Szpilka's career highlight is a UD over 10 rounds versus an old and shot cruiserweight in Adamek.

This is the same Szpilka who had just been knocked out by Bryant Jennings.

Ruiz is no certainty to beat anybody who is at the highest level, but he'll beat anybody who's rubbish, that's for sure.

 

I'm not saying that Szpilka is better than Whyte, it's a stylistic point. Whyte has sufficiently slow feat, poor stamina and a weak chin without being especially rangy, so a (relatively) in shape fat Andy would have a good chance against him. Against a cruiser/heavyweight with better footspeed who can box and move for 12 rounds, Ruiz would be in more trouble.

 

Szpilka was never very good but the version who fought Jennings had enough footspeed, evasiveness, range and boxing skill to outbox Ruiz and his chin wasn't as weak in those days. I'm far from certain that Szpilka would win but it's a very tough stylistic matchup for Ruiz, much like Arreola-Adamek.

 

Stylistically, on paper, it may be a tricky one for Ruiz. But there is too much of a gulf in quality for that to Szpilka to be able to capitalise on.

Szpilka is absolutely **** poor and always has been. People seem to have respect for him because he went something like 8 or 9 rounds with Wilder. He's crap.

 

Honestly, I dont think he's overrated. Imho his talent is for real. Nothing overrated.

But his work ethics..... well... that.... that's another story....

And it's a pity, sinceresly.

EDIT: I watched eubank senior saying, "you have to get up at 4 am and go to run, not because you have to, but because it is the right thing to do". If you ever hear andy saying something even remotely close to that, beware of the end of the world, because it will be close.

 

True, even 41 year old Vitaly beat Chisora easly with 1 arm.
Haye KOed him. Now, Chisora loses a close fight with Parker and has a competitive fight with Usyk.

 

Well every top HW are overrated tho... the division sucks

 

I understand your argument. I'm saying that even with any stylistic advantages Szpilka might possess it won't be enough to compensate for his p*** poor chin and defensive liabilities. Whyte, for all his faults, is a proven contender at the highest levels, and while he chin isn't the greatest it isn't an instant fight-ender like Szpilka's is. Ruiz would just plod forward on Szpilka and sooner or later (sooner probably) land one of his flurries that would instantly have Szpilka down on the canvas. Then it's over. It wouldn't matter how cute or technical Szpilka looked before that point because that's what would happen like it always does, since Szpilka cannot take a shot of any description. Whyte on the other hand would have a lot more room for error. He might get caught or hurt or even dropped but he'll be able to get back in the fight, and he has the power and range to make things really tough for Ruiz.

I said this before the Arreola fight that cooled everyone's opinions on Ruiz, but I'd bet big that Whyte would beat him on points if they fought right now. Ruiz won't be able to get past his jab or high guard, and would take a ton of damage on the inside off Whyte's short shots, particularly his hook. Might even be a tko now if Ruiz's chin is cracked.

 

Szpilka's chin didn't used to be nearly as bad is it is today. Jennings was the first to stop him right at the end of the 10th in 2014 but Jennings is much faster than Ruiz. Ruiz vs Liakhovich (who had been KO'd 5 times previously and taken some bad beatings) from 2014 indicates that a prime Szpilka could school Ruiz as Szpilka is slicker and rangier and Liakhovich wasn't even boxing on the backfoot, yet he still gave Ruiz problems and went the distance. Ruiz is better than prime Szpilka on the whole but he's extremely limited and often unmotivated.

I lean toward Whyte beating Ruiz now (though I leaned toward Ruiz pre-Arreola) but I may be being too reactionary. Maybe Ruiz is adjusting to a new style and weight and will be better next time and maybe Whyte is now even chinnier and less confident than he was pre-Povetkin. I think it's a good fight, stylistically one of the better fights for Ruiz because Whyte doesn't have the best range, footspeed, stamina or chin.