Evander Holyfield vs Razor Ruddock 1991

Ruddock was a one handed fighter by 1991, Holy would have beat him he was far too predictable.

 

Holyfield beats him easier than tyson. Out of bowe lewis tyson and holyfield. Tyson was the most favorable style match up for ruddock but he couldnt pull it off.
Holyfield will have an easier time because he can stick and move if he gets nailed and is less open to uppercuts.

That being said ruddocks left hand power must have been truly tremendous for him to have developed such a severe case of the punchers syndrome/punchers mistake. Top contenders dont develop habits that bad unless they have a tremendous physical gift that has let them get away with it for that long

 

Disagree, Ruddock would be a very dangerous fight for Holyfield and he never ever mentioned fighting him.....Ruddock would have fought him anytime in the Foreman/Holmes/Cooper era and IMO was a better fighter with a pulse than the two fossils and a crack addict. Holyfield at that time frame brawled and traded way to much ...while he should come on top in a decision while taking all kinds of punishment and adding severe mileage to the clock

Insert Ruddock instead of Cooper and there is a good chance that that version of Evander might get stopped.

 

Evander would have countered the guy to death. And the Holyfield workrate would have forced Ruddock to a higher workrate to hang in there. Maybe he could make it all the way up to 30 punches a round. He's be gassed by the 7th round and stopped a few rounds later.

 

lol, so Bert "Hit the crack pipe Cooper " did almost the trick......ancient Holmes made it the distance sitting on the ropes but Holyfield is stopping Ruddock..sue your brain for non support...besides a washed up Tyson , Holyfield never stopped anybody of note, cuts in Stewart, two tries against glass chin Moorer , even no hoper Vaughn Bean went the distance, Ruiz and the list goes on,Holyfield is not a KO artist or heavy puncher, fact.

I said Evan Fields should win but he will take a beating if he fights Ruddock from the Tyson fights.

 

Tyson was the best choice for Ruddock out of Mike, Lewis and Holy in 91 because Tyson had slipped so much but Razor would have had a great chance with Bowe because he was really easy to hit, I think it would be a case of who lands their best punches first, it would have been exciting.

 

Ruddock didn`t throw many punches vs Tyson and Holy would catch him with the same amount of shots he caught Moorer in the second fight and there`s no way Ruddock could take that, Tyson`s attacks in 91 had slowed to ones and twos you could see the punches coming the occasional solid one got in and his body shots were hard but there was so much pausing and holding Holy v Moorer was all action, they said Ruddock didn`t train hard for the 2nd Tyson fight or the fight with Lewis he just started hitting and hoping, I think Ruddock at this stage was overrated by going the distance with a sloppy Tyson who would have been destroyed by Holy in 91 had it not been for destiny.

 

Cooper had a better chin than Ruddock Tyson kept stopping after he landed good shots in their fight, Ruddocks chin was exposed by Lewis so why should he have got a shot instead of Holmes who easily beat Mercer, I feel Mercer would have beaten Razor at that point also. If Razor should have got a shot the same year he lost to Lewis then Morrison had the same right to fight Holy after losing to Mercer plus Tommy years later went on to beat Ruddock, he was overrated and lazy, all he had was potential.

 

Mercer ? Please,don't do this my friend ! A fighter who lost to a shot 18-9-0 Jesse Ferguson and a 42 years old
Holmes.

 

Mercer went on to have 12 competitive rounds against an improving Lewis while Ruddock only lasted two against a green pre Steward Lennox, Mercer had a better jab than Ruddock and did quite well against Evander.

 

Tyson hadnt slipped much at all. You didnt really study tyson if you think he slipped alot. He didnt move his head because ruddock had no rythm and didnt throw many jabs or straights. While moving his head the way he used to is very good to get inside a tall boxers reach, ruddock was ompletely different because he had no rythm that tyson could pick up and he randomly exploded with very dangerous upper cuts and hooks that tyson had to avoid weaving or ducking into, wgich would be a very real danger if he moved his head in the old pattern(which could be timed by an opponent)Which is why he stood more straight up and relied on his reflexes to avoid shots, since they mostly came one or two at a time.


He didnt throw combinations because ruddock was covering up and tyson would have punched himself out or even worse, a miss would have left him off balance and vulnerable to a counter from the much bigger man. Richie giachetti explained this in an interview after the fight.
He didnt need his jab because ruddock was covering up and letting him get close anyway and then try to nail him on the way in with the uppercut.
In the occasions that razor did try to keep distance, tyson did use his jab,

Notice how when he got hit vs ruddock it was mostly on the way in. When ruddock tried to hit tyson first, tysons reflexes were sharp. And everytime ruddock punched, whether he hit tyson or not, tyson came back with hard shots

Had he fought a guy like tucker or douglas and not moved his head and fought like he did vs ruddock...,then i would agree that he slipped. But for ruddock his gameplan and execution was on point, and the sharpness of mike's counters proved that. Even if he had a slightly more conventional style than he did with rooney.
Tyson himself has said that when he went to prison he was still at the top of his game.

Regarding ruddocks chin, its very likely that the punishment received in the tyson fights greatly reduced his punch resistance. Either way, his style would have been highly ineffective against taller opponents who could punch and box reasonably well

 

I think Evander would have had a tough time with Ruddock personally. Ruddock proved against Tyson he was very durable and could take a punch, by the Lewis fight he was damaged goods. I think Holyfield would have had a hard time hurting him and he would have taken some heavy fire back, he got a great chin but he wasnt beyond getting hurt by that well placed temple shot. I'd favour Evander's boxing skills and counter punching but it wouldnt be the easy fight some seem to think. Ruddock was hard as nails to take that punishment Tyson was dishing out in 91, he was determined and kept coming.

 

The Lewis-Mercer fight proved only one think Lewis' skill is overrated .
By your opinion the Mercer beater shot Ferguson and very old Holmes must be superman.

 

Tyson and Holyfield had several common opponents basically Tyson beat these fighters easier than
Holyfield (For example the glass-chinned Stewart, Ruddock was bigger and far better than Stewarti doubt Holyfield would beat easier Ruddock than Tyson.