John Ruiz vs. Shannon Briggs

Not really....that's just a style matchup thing.

Ruiz walks in. Always. Tua is a big hitter. That's why you don't see a lot of hitters on that Ruiz resume. Lots of boxers though. But not the guys that starch you with 1 punch that Ruiz is going to walk into.

Who was the next big hitter that Ruiz finally faced after that Tua---where was that rematch anyway---debacle? David Haye? That was a long long time without facing any of the big hitters in the division.

 

Ruiz beats him down .. he beat far better fighters .. Briggs is not Tua ..

 

Ruiz was an artist out there. Shut up.

 

He fought Rahman and Golota.

 

Could anyone explain to me why Shannon Briggs doesn't have asthma medication. All the training vids and fights where he's gasping and wheezing are rough to see, I have asthma myself and know exactly what that is like I couldn't even imagine fighting like that.
However, vast majority of asthma cases can be treated and basically nonexistent after medication. Like albuterol, Advair (12hrs), Symbicort (12hrs), etc. I've always wondered if he is just not allowed to take that medication because of boxing regulations or something? If so seems extremely dangerous to me and should be allowed if not.

 

Thats all that needs to be said. If you have EVER seen Ruiz fight his holding is way way way beyond excessive. You'll often seen Klitschko get chided for clinching a lot but Ruiz took that above and beyond 100 fold in the holding department. A highlight reel of his fights would consist of him grabbing his opponent 99.9% of the fight.

The Ruiz-Oquendo fight is probably the best example, 1 punch a round, constant holding. Even the referee fell asleep in the fight Ruiz landed 3 punches and the ref immediately stopped the fight because thats all the action he saw in 11 freaking rounds.

 

That how I see it as well. Briggs via TKO/KO in the mid to late rounds, perhaps behind on points.

 

They're definitely performance enhancing drugs so I'd assume they aren't allowed. Every fighter would use them if they were allowed.

 

I hear you, but size and sheer bulk doesn't always equate to strength in a clinch.

We see this in wrestling (the real kind) constantly - a smaller and/or less ripped guy with better grappling instincts, ability to gain leverage, maximizing their natural strength can overpower a larger and more ungainly beefcake.

 

There would have been a rematch but Tua blew the eliminator against Rahman.


Johnson had one punch power, Ruiz also beat Rahman and Golota.

 

Seems doubtful to me that Tua would've gotten the chance. Rahman was with King and Tua wasn't. It would've been a possibility, but no sure thing.

 

People need to go back and watch the first two Ruiz-Holyfield fights again. There was a second fight because nearly everyone agreed Ruiz was robbed in the first fight. And, in the rematch, Ruiz battered Holyfield, floored him, and was clearly the better man.

I always rooted against Ruiz, but he'd beat Shannon Briggs any day of the week. You didn't need footwork to beat Briggs. Sedrick Fields beat Briggs. Fields can't even jump rope. If you muscled Briggs and backed him up, it was over. Darrol Wilson, who wasn't a big banger and had no footwork and not much of a chin, destroyed Briggs in three rounds. As soon as Briggs got cut, he folded.

Shannon Briggs has milked a decision win over Foreman (which was considered so outrageous the feds investigated it) ... for 20 years.

Ruiz backs Briggs up, roughs him up, and Briggs is hyperventilating and on his way down by round four.

 

If you look at Ruiz's pre-Tua fights, he was a very aggressive, action fighter.

After getting nearly killed, he changed his tune... and it served him well.

 

Wlad blows Ruiz off the chart in the compu clinch count.

If Ruiz had Wlads size , height , strength and power he probably never would have been the clincher he was.
But Wlad has those assets and he's a worse clincher in a weaker era against weaker opposition.

Lets remind ourselves yeah..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0jI_zUlZME

Just watch the first round. Look at the state of him all over a shot to pieces CW nobody.

In my book , Wlad is a far greater fraud than Ruiz was as Wlad held the championship for so long through illegal tactics - whereas Ruiz was just a title holder.

If Wlad wasn't allowed to pull any of his illegal holds and grapples like Ruiz v Roy Jones - there's no doubt in my mind he would have lost to Peter twice , Povetkin . Possibly Thompson and possibly Haye.

We all saw how easily he got dispatched by Brewster when his holding was taken away.

 

Seek therapy