And what's the relevance of that, given that Ruddock and Foreman are entirelly different fighters, with different pluses and minuses ?!?
You posted it within a context of this thread, so I can certainly assume that it is within the context of Smith.
If you change Buddy Baer to James Smith, everything would fit perfectly. Smith sucked, his skillset was very poor, he couldn't use his height and reach to his advantage and his coordination is way worse than Baer's
He's like a woman mad someone they don't like is being praised so he came in here to derail the thread. I don't believe he has ever once given Foreman credit for any wins.
I don't think People understand how bad Smith was. No disrespect to a pro fighter but the guy was the definition of crude. Bad punching form, couldnt put together shots fluently and struggled with pulling the trigger at the right time. Very amateurish dude who Got by on strength. Foreman, even though he wasnt exactly quick handed excelled at all of these things which is why he was way more succesful.
I truly don't believe how is that possible. Smith is closer to Louis Firpo than Foreman in terms of actual skillset. Now that would be a decent matchup.
His jab was okay, but stiff. His right was okay when he threw it alone, even then the arc was a bit weird but okay. When he got really aggressive though it just got bad. His hooks were arm punches with no weight transfer, he was generally sloppy and uncoordinated and he just couldnt land..which is Kind of the point. Lots of guys swing and thats not Always a problem on its own but he had very poor spatial awareness, he would just swing and hope it lands, thats not the way you throw, throwing punches is Like throwing darts. Measured and with meaning, thats how you deal the most damage.
Next to no one? If the just turned 29-year-old, undefeated, World Heavyweight Champion Joe Frazier, the top heavyweight on the planet, who had cleaned out the division, and who was making his 11th title defense was NO ONE ... Then who the hell was Marvis Frazier who BEAT SMITH? Then who the hell was Joe Bugner who Smith quit against? No wonder you underrate George Foreman. You think losing to Marvis and quitting against Joe Bugner was better than knocking out the undefeated World Champion in two rounds. Good Lord.
Who lost to Marvis Frazier, who lost to Levi Billups, who got knocked out by Lionel Butler, who lost to Michael Moorer, who lost to Tim Witherspoon, who lost to Tony Tubbs, who lost to Adilson Rodrigues, who got knocked out by James Broad, who lost to Greg Page, who got knocked out by Razor Ruddock, who quit against Larry Holmes (twice), who quit against Bugner, who quit against Brian Nielsen, who lost to Dan Dancuta. But the prime, undefeated, 29-year-old World Heavyweight Champion Joe Frazier was a "no one." Got it. This thread has reached it's nonsensical conclusion.
What PLUSES did Ruddock have over Foreman, exactly? He had all minuses. Ruddock couldn't stay off the floor. Ruddock didn't hit as hard. Ruddock didn't have better endurance - hell, he quit against Dave Jaco. Enough.
I completely disagree with you on Buddy Baer on all accounts .. I'd say M. Baer had the same sort of shot against Foreman based on his own chin , stamina when in shape and power but do feel he wasn't as strong or hit as hard as George or Smith ..
Which ones? That he was bigger than Smith? That he took shots better than him? Or that he punched harder? Why? Because he doesn't have the nickname of Bonecrusher? At least he stopped majority of his opponents, unlike Smith...
