1950s Heavy weights underrated?

It's not the number per se. It's the diversity of the source of talent. Not to get off the rails, but the path to elite boxing has opened geometrically for African Americans, Colonials, Eastern Bloc Europeans... Three groups that have come to dominate the division post-1960. We're getting more of the cream of the crop of the great, large athletes on the planet.

 

Andy has never come within 40 pounds of the modern cruiser limit in his professional career, so again, stop leaning on your fairy tales. He is an immensely gifted fighter. How well he exploits these gifts we will see. I fear he will go the way of Tubbs and Page and the lost generation of the 80's.

 

This is all very well, but is this how you would have described him, if he had been fighting in the 1950s?

I get the idea that you would have held him up as evidence of how weak the era was!

 

Ruiz isn't as talented as Tubbs or Page. I think Joshua is just vulnerable to swarming attackers. An old Povetkin showed this first. Ruiz jr, who was in his prime and too fat exploited that weakness.

 

I think Ruiz is quite talented... excellent speed, fluid combos, actually decent gas tank when around 250... but also that Joshua is overrated.

 

And yet Ruiz height and reach is more comparable to the fighters you would dismiss as cruiserweights than it is to the majority of celebrated 250 pound men.

 

I think it was a very good era, not necessarily for the sake of comparing to other periods in head to head fantasy fights, but rather because you had a lot of good fighters who were well matched with one another. Walcott and Charles went 2-2. Patterson and Johannson went 1-2. Marciano had some tough fights. Archie Moore and Harold Johnson fought a few times and Nino Valdez spilt some series with some good fighters.

 

Realistically, how big can a fighter with the height and reach of Ruiz be, while actually being in optimum fighting condition?

I see you trying to promote positive attributes in this grossly unconditioned fighter, while slagging off contenders like Rex Layne, over next to nothing!

 

Layne didn't have a fast-twitch fibre in his whole body. Ruiz is very quick in combo, very quick in stance to target. He is blessed with top notch speed for a heavy. And not some slob who picked up the sport in his 20's, he has been in a gym since he was 5. He throws educated combos, great angles, great punch selection. You deflect to the size argument where the skill and talent argument is the crux.

Call Andy unconditioned (which for Joshua 2 he sure was) but he has proved his ability as a volume puncher at 255, throwing an average of 61 punches a round against Parker, an undefeated 246 pound monster who could ship back 246 pound damage.

 

I think it’s rather interesting how for a few years Andy Ruiz Jr. was seen as being average at best.. He goes out there and upsets Joshua and now he’s an amazing talent who’s abilities size up to great fighters across eras. Is he really that good ? Were we really blind to his true potential all along ? OR.... is this a safety measure to prevent Joshua from looking more vulnerable?

 

I had Ruiz as a hot potential prospect since 2012.

Joshua is a guy I always thought was overrated. Fury or Wilder destroy him.

 

Joe Baski.Dangerous hard hitting fighter.not popular in northern England in the 50s

 

watching Ruiz train speaks for itself. Hand speed and power combined, the only person I've seen on video who compares is Tyson.

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