Donovan Ruddock vs Mike Tyson II

Ruddock showed a lot of heart, determination, and some skill in both fights with Tyson. Tyson beat a very good, dangerous fighter in Ruddock. And to this day I still can't see how Tyson gets ragged on for not fighting George Foreman at that time. The difference between Ruddock and Foreman is almost laughable. Ruddock could throw combinations, hit very hard, and had the hand speed to make things interesting with Tyson. But George would have been a sterner test? Nonsense.....Ruddock probably could have fought better if he had fought with more discipline, but Tyson was just too much.

 

I think Tyson looked like **** againts Ruddock II. Nevermind the 216 pounds, where was the head movement? Where was the explosive attack, the elusivnes? Where were those great combinations. He looked slow. Tokyo Douglas would wup his ass yet again if he fought like he did againts Ruddock.
Then again maybe Tyson was just sadistic and intentionaly fought that way, just to brawl and mess Ruddock up for good.
Tyson looked great againts Stewart on the other hand. Let's not forget Stewart had a 100% KO ratio at that time and previously held his own againts Evander Holyfield in 1989 until luck turned his back on him and he got stopped in the 8 (in 1993 he wasent as good anymore and he lost UD to Holyfield), and he took the old George 10 rounds busting up his face in the process (why oh why did Formean get the MD is beyond me).

 

I dont think that was it, there was clearly a lotta respect there

But I do think he wanted a brawl, you watch the look on his face and the way he fights, he wasnt interested in bobbing and weaving,jabbing,combinations or a lot int he way of boxing skills he just wanted to a have a big punch up. :bbb

One thing I liked was it was a rough fight with plenty of fouls yet neither fighter at any point bitched at all, nice to see.

 

the knockdowns george scored in the second round edged him but imo stewart just beat the **** out of him..the last 3 rounds stewart was in a zone..absorbing big uppercuts and low blows from george while literally rearranging his face and knocking him around..that should have been alex's shining moment and career best win

 

It was a close fight but I thought Stewart edged it and really beat the living **** out of foremans face. It was gross.

 

All you really have to do to sum up this fight is look at Ruddock's face when it was over: Brutal. The man had some heart.

 

Are you saying that just to degrade Lennox era of the heavyweight division? :twisted:

Good fight this was, Tyson not being as focused made for a fantastic fight between him a Ruddock.

 

Didnt he get his jaw broken in two places mid-fight? Also some ribs and what not? That kind of a beating takes something out of anyone who isnt a true champion at heart (wich Ruddock unfortunatly was not).

 

Mike also demonstrated how much he had deteriorated as a fighter. No head movement and no defense whatsoever. When you get to show how good your chin is you're probably not defending well and as solid a fighter as Razor Ruddock was, his punches were as telegraphed as the day is long. The Tyson that actually cared about boxing in the 80's would have seen those punches coming from a mile away. That being said, Tyson was still a top-notch fighter at the time and had more than enough to handle Ruddock. At that point boxing was just a job for Mike. Just watch his body language throughout both fights.

 

What does it have to do with lennox Lewis? Im saying it because it was true.

 

I think the World Boxing cover story covering Ruddock 11 & alluding to a future Holyfield fight had it spot on. "Tyson's not what he used to be, but it's not gonna matter"

 

This is Tyson in his prime :

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIXbnrlvv1g&feature=related[/ame]

I think even in his prime, if a fight went on a few rounds he could quickly turn into a far too one-dimensional fighter, walking straight in, getting hit and throwing one punch at a time.

Almost every fight that went beyond 3 or 4 rounds shows as much, as do some that went less. He could snap out of it and shows flashes of discipline a bit more back then, and, yes, he seemed to be too motivated by a machismo mindset against Ruddock, but he was always prone to this loss of concentration and reverting to a pure slugger mentality.

It's become a bit of a myth that he was constantly boxing and moving his head and throwing 3-5 punches at a time in his prime.
Sure, he became sloppy and less determined after 1988, but even before then he would often close down for long periods and throw one punch at a time. It was effective, mind you.

 

He hadnt even won the title yet, but that was one of his more sloppy performances. Ribalta was tough mofo in that fight, he took a serious beating.