1994 George Foreman vs. John Ruiz

Tell that to Crawford Grimsley, and Axel Shultz. :yep

 

Foreman very likely misjudged both of those guys whereas I'd bet he would be up for Ruiz. And yeah, I still cannot believe that Grimsley managed to go twelve with George.

 

George was very slow in his comeback. He did well against equally slow guys who stood in front of him ala Mike Moorer, Savarese, etc. Anyone with an iota of speed gave him trouble regardless of their skill set. From Morrison, to Shultz, to Grimsley, he struggled.
Ruiz on the other hand was quick enough to give guys like Johnson, Holyfield, and Rahman fits.

 

Johnson should have performed better IMO, but Ruiz did get to him after acting his way through the eraly going.

Holy was very old and even then Johnny did some acting....their first match should have been a TKO win for Holy.

Rahman?

Please!

Ruiz would not be able to do his usual "thing" with George. He had the inferior jab and he would have been manhandled in close.

 

Holy was old:huh Foreman was ancient then, and much slower than "old" Holyfield.

 

Point is John Ruiz' quickness was underated. He threw a quick jab and a quick jab right hand, that confused and frustrated a lot of fighters. He was also difficult to hit cleanly. Can you imagine Foremans slow motion right hand coming at Ruiz? It wouldnt land, and Ruiz would never stand in front of Foreman and trade with him.

 

Ruiz only fought like you mention in spurts. Foreman's left and consistent go-foward movement would have Johnny looking to give us another "rolling/writhing job" at some point. In close, he'd have problems with George.

I will give Ruiz credit for an underrated right hand.

Fine actor too.

 

George couldnt even hunt down Tommy Morrison or Shannon Briggs, and their stamina sunk like the Titanic by mid rounds. :dead

 

Foreman destroys that glorified clubfighter just like Tua did. BEFORE he had a chance to pull any of his shenanigans.

 

I think LeftHook may be Larry Holmes, have you noticed how he always tries to put Foreman down? Foreman struggled against Shultz but he easily beat Grimsley. Tyson in his prime struggled with James Tillis, Joe Louis struggled with Billy Conn a light heavyweight, Ali struggled with Doug Jones.

Every fighter struggles from time to time but does that mean they are a bad fighter? Did Foreman struggled with Briggs who is faster, hits harder and had more skill than Ruiz? Nope because Foreman was probably up to fight Briggs,

I doubt a prime Ruiz could beat a 60 year old Foreman

 

Thats me Larry.. I dont put Foreman down, in fact I commend him for having a decent comeback career for a 45 year old. Lets just keep it real here. Guys like Briggs and Savarese, and Grimsley were tailor made for Foreman. They were chosen because they would stand in front of George. Briggs was basically a 4 round fighter and then he ran out of gas. Grimsley was a club fighter, and Savarese was also not an elusive mobile target. How could you say Briggs was a better fighter than Ruiz? Ruiz beat far better fighters and accomplished more overall.
Fighters that became boxers that really werent, like Morrison, Shultz and Grimsley, gave big George fits. He was just too slow. Ruiz is a lot harder to hit with his jerky style, jabbing and throwing quick righthands and clinching a lot. Its ugly but effective, especially against slower fighters like Rahman for example. By mid rounds George would be a mess.
We all hate John Ruiz, but his resume proves hes had some good success against the top of the division, and Ruiz would just be too quick for George to pull the trigger against. Ruiz by ugly UD.

 

Who did Ruiz beat? A washed up Holyfield? Wait do you mean the fight against Golota where most people thought he lost? Who did he actually beat and I mean beat not get gift wins because he is Puerto Rican. John Ruiz is garbage.

Shannon Briggs has world class talent, he has stamina issues but besides that he is a pretty damn good fighter. He ran against Foreman and lost, Tommy Morrison was a really talented fighter who ran like a girl from Foreman. Even a guy like Adilson Rodrigues was a better fighter than Ruiz, Sure Rodrigues lost, but he lost like a man by fighting not winning by holding on like Ruiz