I would gladly replace the upcoming Fury vs Usyk fight with this one. What a corker this is. Perhaps the axiom “You snooze you lose” might apply here. It could be the spectators themselves who end up nodding off. If Ruiz makes it ugly enough and reasonably foul riddled - Big Joe will become ****ed off and unveil the Hungarian Hammer - his lethal right hand (a well kept secret, perhaps too well kept) - and it will ultimately be Ruiz who will be “snoozing” after a Tuaesque style KO. Never awake the Sleeping Giant.
The key to beating Joe Bugner was effective aggression. Just about everyone who beat Bugner was busier than him. That applies to Jack Bodell as much as Muhammad Ali. Andy Ruiz lost his fight against Joseph Parker because he wasn't quite busy enough. He was outpointed by Anthony Joshua because he wasn't anywhere near busy enough (eating all those Snickers bars had consequences). In short, Ruiz would not be busy enough to beat Joe Bugner.
Mea culpa! I totally misread this to be John Ruiz. Duh! I’ll dispense with any “workings” and still pick Joe - as @The Cryptkeeper suggested, I agree it’s all on Joe to win or lose this.
I haveta say Joe Bugner's been very overrated since his career is over, he did not have a knockout punch, and he did not have the big wins, like say a Ron Lyle or Jerry Quarry who both had 9 top ten victories. HOWEVER BUGNER WAS A BETTER FIGHTER THAN I GIVE HIM CREDIT FOR. TO SURVIVE ALI & FRAZIER
Both are frustrating fighters who don´t let their hands go enough. Ruiz managed to beat Joshua though but his fight with Joseph Parker is an indicator of how he fights. Bugner had all the tools but with the exception of after Frazier knocked him down or the Dunn and Winston Allen fights, he never let loose with venom. Nonetheless he was a tough, durable boxer who usually did just enough to win. I think Joe could nick a decision in a close snoozefest.
The answer to this is the same answer as Bugner v just about every fighter of the past fifty years - it depends which version of him turns up.
