John Ruiz against Eddie "The Animal" Lopez. This kind of match up would bring out the best in Ruiz for a tough fight. 12 Rounds. Could be the biggest Puerto Rico/Mexico rivalry fight thus far.
I mean Ruiz actually established himself world class, lopez didnt. i think ruiz wins easily. people underated ruiz. the man has fought the best competition out of any heavyweight in the past decade, even lennox lewis refused to fight ruiz getting his title stripped. Ruiz has beaten Evander Holyfield, Hasim Rahman, Andrew Golota, Jameel Mccline, Fres Oquendo, Kirk Johnson and fought two top undefeated champions(at the time) valuev, and chagaev to close majority decisions.
1. Firstly Lewis didnt avoid Ruiz, he fought the heir apparent in Grant who was seen as the next great American heavyweight at the time. Lewis also had a very unpopular fight against the similar Akiwande that tarnished his name 2. Yes Ruiz is underrated due to uglyness. He has some top wins and has a great jab which he constantly uses. he used to look allot more of an attractive a fighter before Tua ko'd him, then he became the conservative jab and grab man
Ruiz is very very fortunate to have Mr King as his promoter. W/o the benefit of that matchmaking, he'd be a road warrior for chump change that would never win decisions.
