I personally don't feel Tyson is a great example, even though his skills did diminish, particularly after Holy 2. As late as the Golota fight he did show off a good toolbox, though.
Ruddock had decent skill. As said, sharp jab, fast hands (not a skill per se, but you get me) decent arsenal of punches. I remember when Floyd Patterson was training him, they wanted to get back to him using his right hand and getting back to strong fundamentals. Didn't work out. Ruddock had the IQ of a doorknob.
He did have some good win s John, I will say that. I was one of the those taken in tho by that actual power we're talking about. I had him to beat Lennox Lewis!! But that was of course before big Lenn made a name for himself.
Eddie Mustafa Muhammad sure did .. look at his move up to heavyweight to fight Snipes ... he was posing like he was Joe Louis ..
Couple of ones I'm surprised haven't made the cut yet - G-Man and Mugabi. G-Man could hva ebeen an excellent pure boxer with his height and jab, sticking and setting up chances to unload the bombs. Who knows how his career, indeed life, might have turned out if he had relied on skills more than power. We had one a while back - Pat Barrett - a Jnr Welter. Good boxer then developed a left hook that would take heads off. Manning Galloway schooled him as Part was looking for the big shot. No shame in that. Galloway was a good fighter but it's a shame as Pat was better than he looked that night. and he seemed a likeable fellow. It would have been nice to see him get the kudos.
Ruddock was pretty limited. He didnt have a good jab or right hand, but he was suprisingly quick and had great timing with his left upper cut and left hook. I dont know that Ruddock could have fought any better then he did. He was just limited but a very dangerous contender on his way up through the Tyson fights. Tyson beat him silly in the second fight, and he really was never same after that.
Lloyd Honeyghan is a classic example. He spent his whole career honing a Boxing style that made him a World Champion. After he banged out Johnny Bumphus and Gene Hatcher, he went totally right hand happy. By the time he fought Marlon Starling, he was less than half the Fighter he was when he won the World Title.
WILDER ????? All the man knows how to do is throw a right hand and his footwork is atrocious and so is his balance. Even Shavers is more sound with his skill
Again, you beat me to it. I was about to write about Gomez and how he fell in love with his power. Watching him before he won the championship and early on during his championship run , is like watching two different fighters after he started hunting for the ko's instead of just letting them happen.
You need to go back and watch Ruddock against Weaver. He absolutely had a jab (and a bit of a right hand) before falling in love with his power which is the gist of the thread.
