Razor Ruddock vs Ray Mercer

Mercer would have won if he came in in shape. he has the chin to absorb Ruddock's hybrid hook-uppercut and the power to hurt the Razor. Mercer also had the better stamina - as long as it is not the unfocused, lazy Mercer of the Jesse Ferguson fights he takes Ruddock down.

Mercer KO 8 Ruddock

 

also depends on the shape ruddock is in,

i dont think mercer beats the ruddock that fought tyson

 

Primes? Mercer stops him, probably in 8-10 rounds.

 

yes i think also that the Ruddock from Tyson Fight was to good for Ray.

but the Ruddock ffrom the Morrison fight would lose against Mercer..

Ruddock after the Tyson Fights was never so good like before..

 

About right.

 

I'd pick the Mercer who fought Holyfield over any version of Ruddock.

 

Pickem fight for me. I dont think Mercer punches hard enough to hurt Ruddock, and Ray takes some bombs from Ruddock with his suspect defense. Could go either way.

 

Edging towards Mercer here.

 

Very close match-up, I don't see Mercer stopping Ruddock though.
Ruddock took tremendous punishment for 19 brutal rounds against Tyson, especially in the rematch after their first meeting was stopped prematurely. Look at the hellacious beating he absorbed in the 2nd fight, he was knocked down twice, his jaw was broken in the 4th (source: Sports Illustrated) and his face was battered by bombs until it swelled up like the elephant man - in my mind that fight ruined Razor's punch resistance. Yes Tyson wasn't at his best from a technical perspective (neither was Ruddock), but he was physically and mentally prepared by Giachetti for a long, grueling war on both occasions, i'd say it was the best non-Rooney version of Tyson.

 

When would people says Mercer's prime exactly was?

He was mentally stronger and a markedly better jabber come the Holyfield, Lewis and Witherspoon fights. But his best physical form would've been years earlier, against Cooper and Morrison and so on. Inbetween were pretty awful years for him with the Holmes loss, Ferguson loss and dubious Wilson draw.

 

I woud say his peak was around the Lewis and Holyfield fights. Those were his best performances in three very close fights. The Morrison fight was a good win, but not his best performance technically besides the knockout. Mercer was just inconsistent, and like Ruddock, was on the fringe of being at the top of the sport, but just not quite good enough as evidence of his close fights with the top guys.

 

mercer with the knock out.

what a goliath beast.

 

1995 - '96 he was best, against Holyfield, Lewis and Witherspoon.

The Cooper-Damiani-Morrison streak in 1990-'91 was a good run, but he had more holes in his game back then (excellently exploited by Holmes), and was easy to hit and outbox, and he did improve when he hit his form again 4-5 years later.

1992 - '94 he was very disappointing. Having said that, I think Jesse Ferguson would always have the style to trouble him.

 

Would have to pick Mercer,he has the better chin and stamina.