Holmes jab would easily neutralize anything Ruiz can do. Easy UD win for Holmes. This shows how much better the heavyweights of the past were than now.
Just like Jim Jeffries versus Leon Spinks shows how 1900 heavyweights were better than 1970's heavyweights.
Ruiz is a spoiler at world level but the people who have decisively beaten him have been technical boxers who have studied his style and not taken the outcome of the fight for granted. Check, check, check.
Don't get me wrong...Ruiz has been a pain in the arse to fight for any fighter, save Tua. Who knows, he may've annoyed the bejesus out of Holmes, but I think Holmes would've still schooled him. ''Clinch me again, Johnny, I'll thumb your eye so bad you can't see me enough to gimme a hug." Holmes probably wouldn't mess around and get annoyed even, now that I think about it.
Ruiz would have his chances. Not sure the old Larry could grapple and wrestle and not be susceptible to the jab and falling in righthand of Ruiz later in the fight. Would be ugly boring waltz after 2-3 rounds. Larry would look great early, and then the fight would turn uglier and uglier in Ruiz favor. Outcome, who knows.
What does Ruiz have to trouble Holmes?? Without the illegal holding and other disreputable tactics, he has all the boxing skills of a high-grade clubfighter. Holmes would embarrass him, and maybe even stop him late. Without the cheating and King's influence, Ruiz would have been lucky to win a regional title belt.
Was the Holyfield that Ruiz fought that much worse than the Holmes that Holyfield fought? Nah.. How about beating Rahman, Golota, Kirk Johnson, and a few other decent opponents? That classifies Ruiz as a world class contender/champion, even though the world class at this particular time wasnt much. Like I said, as much as we all hate Ruiz, he perfected this herky jerky style that had him throwing a jab or two and falling in with his righthand, and it proved very difficult for fighters of an "old" Holmes speed to deal with regardless of how much better they were. Of course Holmes was a better technician, but so were most of those others guys that Ruiz fought, but that style was hard to deal with, unless you had the speed to offest it, and like I said, the jab of Holmes would work nicely in the first few rounds, but after the old man started to slow a bit, Ruiz's ugly style would start messing Holmes up. Hard to say either fighter has an easy night.