The way I understand it was, their were numerous issues with the proposed Tyson-Ruddock bout such as the promotors being in breach of contract, and later Tyson suffering from costochondritis. I definitely wouldn't say Tyson ducked him, though I agree nobody was exactly going out of their way to fight Ruddock.
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are talking about most avoided by FIGHTERS, not fans! This content is protected https://boxrec.com/en/proboxer/17615 Wills just was not that good. He was really big, and he fought a lot. But this was a different era, where lots of fighters fought a lot and there was no clear ranking system or method for securing a title shot. Promoters did most of the work, and fans were the party satisfied. Remember, just like today, fighters were looking to get paid. And champions usually wanted a clear contender, rather than to rack up a superfluous number of title defenses.
Too bad those fighters fought continuously for years. Even HUNDREDS of times - LITERALLY. Sometimes against the same opponent more than twice, and often against "opponents" making their debut or with losing records. Those might be three of the WORST choices possible. Oh well, at least you didn't say Harry Greb.
You mean that guy with 250 fights over TWENTY FIVE years!?!?!? Whose best win was the much smaller and ring-worn Jack O'Brien!? Please, tell us why you didn't pick Joe Louis or George Foreman or Wlad Klitchko...
Even firpo appears to have been sandbagging it. He said he was not ready for Dempsey. Looking at them both, I suspect they were both good at beating up on smaller men, and didn't really know how to handle a guy the same size. There's not a lot of footage, so I don't want to draw too many conclusions. People want to see big men fight, but big men often look terrible when they can't do their thing. Neither impressed me as a fighter. Firpo, at least, redeemed himself by trying to valiantly resist the inevitable against Dempsey.
While I appreciate the article, let's acknowledge the obvious: Boxing was dead. At least the Heavyweight division had become a wasteland. While it might be true that Williams had trouble securing fights, there honestly weren't that many competent fighters roaming around. Hardly the makings for most avoided fighter in history, even by Heavyweight standards. Williams didn't really capture the imagination, either. Quarry, Frazier, Foreman, Ali - they did. That should tell you A LOT. Williams' implosions against Liston also show that his reputation was probably very well crafted and there very well may be more to the story.
Coming from a guy who calls Charles GOAT, no less. Explain to me how Ruddock was dodged any more than Cooney or Sanders. Ruddock was a known headcase even before his implosion. It's not just about how fighters perform in the ring that promoters concern themselves with, it's how reliable it is that a fighter will show up and meet expectations. What happened when Ruddock DID get the opportunity to step up?
No. no. no. no. Where is your evidence Tyson was NOT injured? What happened when they actually met? Cooney? Sure. Fighters didn't want a part of him - even as sparring partners. Sanders, absolutely. Probably the division's greatest waste of talent ever. Ruddock was dangerous, but he was far from unbeatable. Even if Tyson DID duck him, eventually they fought and what happened? Sometimes a certain fighter is not right for you. Sure, call it "ducking", but different styles match up differently. Or maybe a fighter is concentrating on something in particular, so changing gears would be inopportune from a career-broad perspective. There really wasn't a consistent effort over a significant period of time by fighters to avoid Ruddock. That was a very short period of time. And what happened when Martinez found him? Floyd could have made a lot of money against Martinez and made an actual contention as GOAT. Funny how he never pursued that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
They fought mainly other black fighters. Without looking up the exact number, I'd guess Langford fought Joe Jeannette seven times. We're talking about being avoided by the leading contenders or the champs. Jack Johnson avoided Langford once he became champ. Etc Etc. How many title shots did Burley, Langford or Walcott get? Go ahead, add them up for me. Thanks. I didn't mention Greb because the only fighter that possibly avoided him was Dempsey. Possibly. Rather than being the worst possible choices, they are possibly the best.
If I am reading the situation correctly, he would have been the #1 contender for most of the period between beating Fred Fulton in 1920, and losing to Jack Sharkey in 1926. He might have lost the status after Bill Tate beat him in 1922, but the win over Norfolk a couple of months later, would have put him firmly back in the saddle. It is possible that Luis Firpo would have pulled ahead of him in 1923, after he beat Willard, but if he had it would have been short lived.
