John Ruiz is back :-(

HE CALLED OUT DAVID TUA??????? That's the dumbest thing he could do besides just proving he can last until the two minute mark of round 1.

 

He got beat in a close fight against probably the second best heavyweight out there right now. Not to mention he showed considerable improvement in boxing skills and did good infighting without holding, at least for the early rounds I saw.

 

If you think Ruiz has somehow "improved" his mediocre boxing skills in his mid-30s, I don't know where to begin! It isn't often that fighters "improve" in boxing ability at such a point in their careers, particularly when they are as limited as Ruiz is.

Incidentally, while Chagaev is justifiably rated second at this point, it remains to be seen how good he really is. Winning a close fight over a guy like Ruiz isn't a good sign, imo. :-( Chagaev has become a bit overrated at this point - and in fact, I suspect that some of the recent surge in people defending Ruiz has something to do with their wanting to pump Chagaev up.*:yep


* just to be clear, I'm not accusing you of this.

 

I'm not a Chagaev fan, although I feel he's a good fighter. But I do give John credit. He has actively gone out of his way to improve the way he fights and believe it or not; before the Tua fight he was more of a boxer (he actually wasn't a terrible amateur if I recall; and the amateurs don't really allow holding like the pros do). But I actually enjoyed watching him fight against Chagaev, he showed a much better jab and balance, as well as throwing uppercuts and a good left hook on the inside. It isn't so much Jawny imrpoving as changing the way he fights and going back to the fundamentals he obviously knew and used as an amateur and in his early pro days; and when you do have the experience John has, it makes it easier for you to begin relearning old concepts or changing how you fight slightly because you're already familiar with boxing and your muscle memory is still there.

 

You complain about that **** with Ruiz, but yet completely ignore the fact that Holyfield benefited from the exact same treatment, with the exact same promoter.

Face it son, your hatred of a ATG heavyweight like John Ruiz is ridiculous. :deal

 

Did you ever think that Ruiz is "going back to basics" because King dumped him and he can't get away with all that holding and the other shennanigans he pulled to "win" fights? And without holding, Ruiz's ability is minimal at best. Whether he can improve on that or not, is, imo, doubtful.

This said, if indeed he is working to improve himself and fight legitimately - believe it or not, I say good for him!! Based on what I've seen, I don't think he has much to work with, frankly - and being from New England I have some knowlege of Ruiz's early career, and while he was a decent amateur, I wouldn't call him top tier.

Like I said, without King, he would have been a top level regional fighter, and maybe a gatekeeper at the world level. His career since King dumped him seems to be bearing that out. We'll see.