kubrat pulev vs donovan ruddock how does it go ???

He dominated Stewart with the exception of a rally that Alex had in the fifth round so mention of Stewart is moot. Dokes was in great shape for that fight. Working with new management. Drug free. And staying active as one of the busiest heavyweights at the time to go along with a lot of experience. I think Dokes was a legitimate contender if only for a brief period.

 

Yeah, I agree.

 

I don't think Dokes gained much muscle, it looked like he gained belly fat more than anything. I think decent shape for him was under 230. Certainly not 240.

Thompson was actually on this third fight in 6 months, and only one month removed from his previous fight. That's pretty busy. Simple mathematics.


Dascola fight is on youtube. And recent history is more important. Thompson was coming off the better wins.

Ruddock is a powerful puncher with a smaller fighter in Dokes, willing to stand in front of him. Of course he delivered the more explosive win. Pulev not so much a knockout artist, against a cagey southpaw with a tremendous reach. I'm not surprised by either result.

As far as Tyson and Wlad goes. Not one of Tyson's best nights, he was still close to putting Ruddock out early, but Ruddock was able to spoil, hug, and wrestle his way out of danger.

And while Pulev went out early, I think he had more success against Wlad than many of his better opponents, actually hitting him clean several times and taking away his jab. But by forcing Wlad to fight, he got more than he bargained for. And while Wlad may be 38, the guy is looking as sharp and quick as ever so moot point.

 

I think Holyfield did that with a lot of fighters, just his style.

 

With all due respect, you seem to play both sides of the fence when it comes to the weight, age and activity arguments. Just to list a few examples:

Lennox Lewis was 37 years old, a career high 256 and off for a year against Vitali Klitschko, yet according to you he was fine.

Joe Louis was 36 years old, a career high 218 lbs and retired for two years against Ezzard Charles, but you saw no problem there.

Tony Thompson was 42 years old, a career high 264 lbs and had recorded all but 2 wins in 2.5 years against Pulev but he looked good.

And finally, Michael Dokes was 31 years old, had gained 15 lbs since the toughest fight of his life a year earlier and had kept busy fighting four times in the interim before facing Razor Ruddock, but your position isn't that he was fine, sharp, etc.... Now he's a washed up fat bum.. I don't want to sound like a whiny **** here and in truth I agree with some of the points in your argument. But fighting against your contradictions is just an uphill battle that can't be won. I'm going to bow out of this and just say agree to disagree.

 

Because weight isn't a black and white issue in Heavyweight boxing.

Each fight has to be to be examined on an individual basis.

Yes, I have a problem with people saying Lewis was "fat" against Vitali when he was shredded with 8 pack abdominals.

Louis was certainly diminished against Charles and during his comeback. Visibly he still looked like a damn good fighter, just not the machine he was in his youth, he was no longer the fastest gunslinger.

But I believe my beef was the implications of certain posters that Louis was somehow really just a skinny 190 lb man with useless muscle mass in his 30s that rendered his actual fit 205-218 lb range an illusion. That's bull****, Louis just gradually got heavier and more muscular with age. It wasn't artificial bulk or fat.

Actually 3 wins if you are going back that far. Another way of saying it is that Thompson had two wins in the previous 6 months. And when was Doke's last decent win? A split technical decision over Cobb in 85?

What makes you think Dokes was up for the Ruddock fight? He didn't come in at 253 but he still came at a high weight, and looked like a shell of himself in his previous two fights.

 

A notion that I am well aware of. But the fighters you seem to favor are not the only ones who can perform while being outside their track record perameters..

agreed.

I don't think he was fat either. But I also doubt that neither he nor manny steward felt that 256 lbs was ideal for him either.

I think he was shot, but I'll agree to some extent.

I personally think he was best between 199-205 but that's another argument for another time.

Okay from November of 2010 to the Pulev fight of August 2013 he fought three fights losing one of them.. That's three fights and two wins in two years and nine months. Taking that exact amount of time, Dokes had fought on 13 occasions only losing one of them in an all out war with Holy. Thompson fighting just a month before facing Pulev is fine, but I don't think that surpasses Dokes level of activity in recent times. In fact fighting in two big bouts back to back in such a short time like that some might even say it could work against you. As for Dokes level of opposition? My answer is not very good.. But he was certainly the more active of the two and I've never thought much of David Price or some of the guys Thompson had beaten as of late either.

He wasn't prime or looking great in his more recent outings.. But he looked good against a decent opponent Watson which was close enough to the Ruddock fight. He managed to dispatch Dascola and Washington despite being out of shape and Washington was no soft touch.. I think he made an effort to be in good form for Ruddock because the winner was in line for either a meeting with Tyson or the title. Thompson beat price which is fine, but price isn't that good either.

 

Razor would KO Pulev. Ruddock would find his chin with relative ease. Pulev is there to be hit. He'd obviously land some shots on Razor as Razor was also easy to find, but as Pulev showed vs Wlad hes made to order for the left hook and Ruddock's was one of the best!


Razor KO4

 

That is fair.

 

Happy New Year :good

 

Fair this is a bull****.
Tyson-Ruddock II:
"Tyson gave Ruddock a methodical beating on this hot desert
night..." by Phil Berger (The New York Times).
I hope the idiots don't repeat the **** about the Tyson fans !