Yes, there has been clinching in boxing, but I have never seen a fighter who clinched on such a constant basis as John Ruiz did during his career. What was even worse, Ruiz constantly fell into clinches after throwing a single jab throughout his bouts. I have never seen another fighter who would throw so few punches before falling into a clinch. - Chuck Johnston
Agreed. Actually he came in with his shoulder----effective as an inside punch. But there is a big reason they did not match him with hitters.
I have almost completed his career set on DVD. If anyone has the following fights, please DM me. Mike Vasser Lorenzo Poole George Chambers
Well put. Ruiz was one of the worst HW beltholders of all time. He "triumphed" by breaking the RULES against excessive holding. His entire career against world class opposition is utterly fraudulent. Ruiz is the poster boy for boxing corruption in the 90s and early 2000s. In a fair fight against any decent contender, he gets destroyed just like he did against David Tua.
Didn't like to watch him but he got the nod over a lot of good fighters. It was shocking that he beat Holyfield. Shocking.
Without Don King hes a middling contender. in the mid 80s DK at least had a group of fresh talented guys who were forced to fight each other. DK, on the other hand, very carefully matched Ruiz.
Smart, tricky, spoiler. Better than people generally want to admit. Not small, but not big, he used guile to get by and broke and bent the rules to facilitate that. Dull to watch, hard to beat, an important part of that generation of fighters. Golata, Holyfield, Rahman, Johnson and Tucker, that's better than he should have been beating with his power/speed/size combo. I admire him, even though I don't ever rewatch his fights.