Is John Ruiz the best ...US HW fighter of the last decade?

Out of curiousity, who do you have as the best right now as a American HW. King Pin's dress was just pulled up and I am waiting to see how Chambers will do. There seems to be no one else.

 

I would say RJJ makes this debate difficult!

 

Well the man comes to fight every time always in shape. He is no easy est and is never really beaten convincingly. Jones beat him pretty bad but that was a prime high water mark Jones who at the time is one of the greatest fighters in recent time. Toney won but he was juiced up. Ruiz blitz him in 19 seconds but that was a long time ago he has improved much since. He gave Holyfield, Valuev, Chagaev, Golota, Oquendo all they could handle. He is better than Areolla, Johnson, Austin, Rahman. I think he will be a tough one for Haye though Haye is capable of doin a Roy Jones type fight though he is a cocky slugger and may be compelled to mix it up. Though he did not do that vs Valuev but Ruiz is more in comparison size wise. His inside body punching chest to chest style would prove difficult for the Brothers. Wlad does not have an uppercut and rarely fights on the inside. How difficult did Brock make it for Wlad by getting inside. Wlad also has a history of tiring. Not to say Ruiz can do all that or is a great fighter he is no walk in the park

 

You seem to be ignoring that excessive holding is against the rules of boxing. That's the ONLY thing that made Ruiz, with his limited abilities, even competitive against any of those guys. And King's influence allowed him to get away with it.

Ruiz is one of the most limited fighters to ever hold a HW belt. He isn't even close to the best of this decade. He is a talentless fraud, who cheated his opponents and the fans.

 

Again, you ignore what HAPPENED in those fights. Ruiz got a gift decision against Golota, and violated the rules against excessive holding in most of those other fights. Ruiz's Kirk Johnson "win" was a disgrace where he overacted to get low blow calls, as he did against Holyfield in one of their fights, to get a DQ. Hardly impressive.

The only reason he's still "challenging" for titles is because of the same sort of corruption that got him rated in the first place, and allowed him to get away with his illegal and disgraceful tactics for so long!

 

At least he won't run. We all know he has a boring style, but he will fight. He has changed his style since and again, King is no longer his promoter. That sneaky right can possibly wobble Haye. As far as beating the Klitskos, maybe Vlad due to his chin. That's a big maybe though.

 

I think you underestimate the power of Don King in the HW division for most of this decade, and in the 90s.

If the rules were properly enforced against Ruiz, he would have been disqualified in most of his fights above the journeyman level.

 

Aint that some ****. Never really thougth about it. Damn!

 

• He was ahead on the cards against Kirk Johnson anyway.
• He never got a DQ win over Holyfield.

 

I'm not calling him best of the decade. I'm saying he is the best American left. Whic hsays not too much looking at the talent pool. And so the guy is limited or talentless. He used strategy and tactics to succeed. And that is not the argument his style though not fun to watch and being criticized for talent makes it hell for anybody

 

Like the point deductions didn't figure into that!!!

And I wasn't meaning to suggest he got DQ'd against Holyfield, merely that he had pulled the same sort of overacting to force a "low blow" call - in that case to avoid getting counted out, as he should have been in the 8th round of their second fight. He also did the same thing earlier against Jimmy Thunder, gaining a crucial point deduction which got him a split decision.

Ruiz has a PATTERN of overacting to force "low blow" calls when hit with borderline body shots. This is a disgraceful way to "win" fights - but along with violating the rules against excessive holding, it's basically all Ruiz has to "win" at the world class level. Because he doesn't have the talent to do it otherwise. And King's connections allowed him to get away with it.

I don't know about you, but to me there's something wrong with a limited fighter using illegal and disgraceful tactics to gain "wins" in this sport he wouldn't be able to do boxing within the rules.

 

Thanks for clarifying that. I wouldn't say that he's the best left either. Both Arreola and Chambers are better right now.

 

Well Chambers Arreola is close im just saying because Ruiz gave Chag and Valuev hell. Areolla has alot of ability but I do not know how much his motivation will last. i missed the whole title saying decade. I'd say Ruiz or Byrd similar length in reign many title fights lots of close hard to watch fights. Byrd way more talented even when he did not use it. Both fought close controversial decisions.