Donovan "Razor" Ruddock vs Cleveland Williams Prime vs Prime --- Who wins??

Ruddock KO 6-8.

 

Ruddock in a rumble
Ko 6

 

I think Ruddock was a bit more durable and maybe slightly more powerful and stronger. Does this guarantee victory ? No. But this fight has all the makings of a shootout and not a strategic chess match. In such instances the man who has advantages in the categories I mentioned is usually the winner.

 

Man this is a fun one. I think Big Cat was smoother than his reputation would have you think, and early on he'd probably be picking Ruddock apart with that thudding jab. Donovan was very willing to take one to land one and I don't know if he would have the tactical acumen to shut down the kind of pressure Williams could apply, cause Williams knew how to circle and go to the body. He wasn't one-dimensional. This is almost definitely controversial, but I think Ruddock is unlikely to win unless he can catch Big Cat with counters in the middle rounds and get the best of him there. Otherwise I have Williams outworking him, mostly keeping him back, testing his chin, and getting in some combinations.

And remember, Sonny Liston said Williams was the hardest hitting puncher he had ever encountered -- Foreman and Chuvalo both said similar things, that he was among the strongest they'd ever been struck by.

Williams by late TKO.

 

I'll take Ruddock. During his prime, he took shots from Bonecrusher Smith and Mike Tyson. I personally think he does a hell of a lot better against Sonny Liston than Williams did. The Ruddock smash smashes Williams

 

In my opinion Williams is a better boxer than Razor and I believe he'll come out and nail Razor early and take control, I mean he went toe to toe with Sonny Liston and hurt him, he'd hurt Ruddock too. But the pivotal moment will be if Cleveland can't get Ruddock outta there . In that scenario Ruddock could stop him anywhere from the 5th on. Nice matchup, one I wouldn't bet a nickel on with confidence.

 

I’d say Williams has the better technique, is more athletic and has a better variety of combinations and better punch selection, Ruddock perhaps hits harder in terms of 1 punch KO power, he might be bigger, but he may just have had more body fat, he was only 10-15lbs or so heavier, but Williams was a lot leaner.

Williams also has the better win out of the 2, being Terrell, none of Ruddock’s wins were as good as that win, that was prime Terrell as well.

People look at the fact that Ruddock beat a few names, but many were past their best, Smith, Dokes, Page etc, people don’t look at the context, same with the notion that people seem to think Williams had a bad chin and wasn’t durable, he was no less durable than Ruddock himself, Williams got stopped by a devastating puncher Satterfield when he (Williams) was 20 and completely green, Sonny Liston and even took some bombs before going, then Ali after he’d been shot, lost about 50lbs and had to regain it, then against some others while completely washed up, his durability in his prime is underrated because people just look at the number of stoppage losses on paper.

Williams had the better single win out of both.

 

Ruddock, stronger and more durable, but this would be very very fun fight.

 

Ruddock's better chin makes him the winner, in what would be a barn burner of a fight.