I thought the same thing about his last fight. Lotta folks were saying it was just him fighting to the level of his opponent, and yeah he has done that sometimes, but I have my doubts about it this time. His footwork seemed to be slower than normal and contrary to what a lot of people were saying as the fight happened, I don't think Fury was just toying with Chisora, he seemed to me to be actively trying to get him out of there as early as the second round. It's like he was trying to get another Whyte esque KO and just couldn't do it. Had him hurt a few times but couldn't finish the job despite trying to and was only able to get a TKO due to the ref having seen enough. I mean don't get me wrong, it was one sided as hell and I think the stoppage was fine, though unlike a lot of cases I really don't think it would have ended in an actual KO if it had gone on. I dunno, Fury just seemed to be really off in that fight. I'm waiting til this fight to judge where Fury is, but it almost seemed like those years of abusing his body may have started to catch up a little bit. Hopefully I'm wrong though and he isn't already starting to slide. I want him and Usyk to be at their best when they fight, the first undisputed match at heavy in over two decades oughta be as great as it can be. All that being said, I think Fury prolly wins this pretty comfortably. Even if Fury is starting to slide, unless he's had a major decline very suddenly, I don't think Ruiz will give him any significant issues outside of some moments of success that ultimately end up being too few and far between. But hey, you never know with boxing. If nothing else it's some top guys being active. I'm looking forward to seeing how this one goes.
I feel like Ruiz doesn't have a prayer, but i would love to be wrong and see him pull off a Buster Douglas moment a second time. That would throw the whole division in a tailspin, and it would make Fury look like a buffoon.
It won't be good. Joshua Ruiz 2 shows you all need to know. Ruiz won't lay a glove on him. Fury is better at what Joshua did, taller and rangier.
How was he terrible against Ortiz? He won the fight and knocked him down 3 times, took massive shots and wasn't knocked down once.
Better Andy Ruiz than Derek Chisora 3. At least it would be the first time. And Andy is top 10 and Derek is not. A good fight.
Wilder finished Ortiz. 2x. And the first Wilder vs Ortiz fight was 4.5 years before Ruiz fought him. Ortiz had taken a ton of damage from Wilder, also got dropped twice by Charles Martin, was significantly slower and chinnier yet Ruiz still couldn't finish him and was even getting beaten up in the last round. The fact that Ruiz couldn't finish that version of Ortiz is worrying.
People keep complaining about Chisora 3, reality is most top boxers have taken those kinds of fights from time to time. Fury also said years ago he’d give Chisora a payday. The last 2 Wilder fights show the difference between Fury when he’s been active and when he’s just been sitting too long. Guy beat the former champ in his contracted rematch and his mandatory, now might face the #2 ranked guy for that organization. It’s not Usyk, but as far as the WBC goes, it’s already better than what Wilder did.