Ruiz would struggle to deal with the magnitude of the fight, and Ali would be cute enough to edge the close rounds, that would make difference. Ali WM15 (9-6)
Ruiz strength wins this one. Sorry, Ali was a shell of a shell by this point. He actually liked to hold more than Johnny.
Why would Ruiz be stronger than Ali though? Ali was never out muscled by anyone. His speed and reflexes diminished badly (particularly as the fight wore on) but his strength seemed to stay.
i tend to ali by a close decision , but it can really go the other way , ruiz not inferior to norton. maybe somewhat lacking in technique , but much better chin. and then i saw it was the ali of spinks fights - maybe a draw , maybe still a close decision. ali couldn't stop norton and ate **** from doug jones - i saw it ! and that was even a young ali.
I agree with this. As muscular a tank as Berbick was, Muhammad neutralized his flailing well in the clinches. When it comes to the scorecards, there's no way Ruiz out captures the eyes of the judges against this trickster. (Incidentally, I scored Ali the winner over Berbick, 97-93. He outscored Trevor from long range with his diminished jab and right cross, controlled the movement in the ring, and again, used his arms in the clinches to render Berbick's attempts to flail away at his body largely ineffective. Still, I'm glad the judges opted to retire him, much as the judges tried to retire Holyfield against Acromegaly. If Muhammad thought Liston, Frazier and Spinks were too ugly to be champion though, what must he think of the giant hairy ogre?)
Interesting conclusions. What conclusions can we draw from a heavyweight ko'd in 19 seconds? What other top caliber heavy even gets starched in the first round, let alone that early. Ali had been a pro for 18 years by the time of the Spinks bout. Lets see how Ruiz and his skillset looks when he's wearing those shoes. Where would Ruiz even be without Don King promotions?
Wehen it comes to Ruiz it´s better to ignore zakman. He hates him with passion. That´s ist basically. Would be close and I don´t think it will be easy in the clinches. If Ruiz fight´s more like he did against his fights with Chagaev and Valuev - less clinching, more boxing - he even may take a decision.
Hate to say it, but Ali would probably lose. He beat Spinks the 2nd time with a hell of a lot of clinching, he really had nothing left ...... AND and it's common knowledge Spinks had been partying non-stop, getting arrested, drink-driving, banging whores, doing coke, weed, for the whole six months since the first fight. Jab-grabbing your way to victory over an 8-fight pro with Aerosmith's training camp doesn't make you favourite even over John Ruiz.