I’m going with Holyfield but it’s an interesting match up. Ruiz is naturally bigger and can match Holyfield in handspeed. If Holyfield boxes, he’s gonna eat a lot of punches with Ruiz’s quick hands but I’d still favor Holyfield to win a clear but sloppy decision. In a shootout, I’d still favor Holyfield to win a decision but it would still look pretty bad. Ruiz’s attributes would give Holyfield problems but I don’t think he’s good enough to beat him.
Agreed. People look at Ruiz and think "big gut, he's out of shape". That man's upper body is LOADED with fast twitch fibres. Very good power, very quick, great chin. It's a war, IMHO.
I think this is the correct analysis. Andy Ruiz is definitely much better than he looks but you have to favour Holyfield on resume and all-round skills. I also think Holy wins a decision with Ruiz looking good in spots and taking some rounds. I'm not convinced that anybody that is in a combat sport and looks like Ruiz is taking their career seriously enough. Ruiz is coasting on talent and his fast hands. A version of Ruiz that trained and looked like Holy might even beat him, but we'll probably never see that.
Just because some bum beats one all time great, or gives them a tough fight, it doesn't mean that they are in with a prayer against every other all time great. If you object to my using that term to describe Joshua, then that should make your pick very easy here. We should treat these fights as what they are. Aberrations, that only reflect upon the great fighter who was in the ring at the time!
Holyfield. better conditioning, more skilled etc. Only advantage you could make a case for Ruiz having is hand speed.
This one is easy for me because I never saw Joshua as an ATG. Though I thought he had decent ability, I saw him as a fighter in the right place at the right time. Ruiz victory over him wasn't as big a surprise to me as it was to others on this and other sites, Joshua showed many weaknesses well before his lost to Ruiz, and I pointed this out well before this lost. Holyfield was a completely different animal than Joshua, especially in the area's of heart and determination. I don't see the best version of Ruiz having much of a chance against the best version of Holyfield or close to his best. Holyfield at his best would take some punishment from Ruiz because of his willingness to stay in close to him for too long, but like his fights with Cooper, Dokes or Mercer the better skilled, better conditioned Holyfield would eventually overwhelm Ruiz, stop him with in 10rds.
Thats debatable. Fighters can improve. Lennox Lewis got knocked out by oliver mccall but he improved and went down as a top 10 all time great heavyweight for most boxing fans. Joshua is still improving and might end up beating Fury and cleaning out the heavyweight division. As for Evander Holyfied vs Andy Ruiz. I agree. It would be a slugfest and Ruiz will hold his own, but Holyfield is just too much for Ruiz in terms of skill. He wins by UD or possibly stopping him in the late rounds
Holyfield would outbox him quite handily I think. Ruiz don't have the movement to trouble him. I assume we're talking about the prime one that beat the likes of Bowe Buster Douglas and Mercer?