Lets talk Donovan Ruddock

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If Ruddock fought with an iota of intelligence and also actually listened to his corner, he would have been a champ at some point, definitely.
I watched his fight with an aged Greg Page the other day and while Ruddock had every advantage going for him, he made the fight much, much harder than it should have been. Instead of using his jab and boxing (as his trainer Floyd Patterson was urging him to do) he just waded in looking for power shots, and he let Page make it surprisingly competitive.
He finished Page in the end, but it should not have been nearly as close as it was.

He had all the physical (and most the intangible) tools to grab a belt and defend it a few times at some point, but his brain was on autopilot too many times. He did okay for himself, but he let himself down I think. Something of a squandered talent.

 

Agreed.

The thing with the guy was he was was smaller than Weaver when they fought. Mike was a lot bigger from the waist up. And Weaver is kind of like Evander--in shape but not a real big frame.

The next thing you know, Ruddock looks twice the size and it's all from the waist up. I know in his autobiography, Lennox said the guy became a big weightlifter and maybe that contributed to things. That and the brutal ko's of Smith and Dokes--good luck getting that guy to listen.

 

:hand

 

Lewis had his number. :deal

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On second thoughts, if it's not mentioned here he lost love for the fight game after the consecutive beatings at the hands of Iron Mike. Some ****ing helacious shots in those two fights. :-(

 

Big puncher but not a very good boxer at all. Guy had an 83 inch reach but fought like he was in a telephone booth.

 

He knocked out Bonecrusher Smith in the 7th round and Michael Dokes in the 4th round when both were still pretty good. Both men were out for several minutes! Smith did have Ruddock down early in the fight.

The first fight with Tyson was good but Ruddock was not in a position to win it, I admit the fight was stopped too early though... which set up a rematch. Ruddock lasted the distance in the rematch but was down twice and suffered a broken jaw. Again, he was not in a position to win this fight.

Due to the toughness he showed vs. Tyson, then Tyson going to jail, Ruddock was seen as the man to beat by many people despite the fact that Holyfield had beat Douglas who had beat Tyson. Holyfield was scheduled to fight Bowe on November 8th and Ruddock was scheduled to fight Lewis for the #1 WBC ranking on Halloween. The winners were supposed to face each other. Many felt Ruddock was going to end up being the Undisputed Champ.

Lewis crushed Ruddock in less than 2 rounds. Bowe won a close decision over Holyfield. Instead of fighting Lewis, Bowe tossed the WBC belt in the trash and fought Ruddock KO victim Michael Dokes (Bowe KO1).

Ruddock was well past prime when he fought Morrison. He had not fought in almost a year and a half, and prior to that he had not fought in about a year and a half (which was the loss to Lewis). Ruddock gave Morrison problems much like Carl "The Truth" Williams did 2 1/2 years before.. before getting stopped. Williams was stopped as well.

The KO wins over Smith and Dokes, the 2 tough fights with Tyson, the nice effort vs. Morrison. The KO loss to Lewis. What else is there?

 

Tell me somebody got it...

 

ok here is the scoop on Razor, he could of been one of the best ever I shyte you not. What people don't understand was how clued out Ruddock was. Well before the Dokes fight Ruddock got a BIG HEAD. He changed his style moving totally away from his jab. He could of been one of the most clueless dudes ever. He got a big head and was not easy to train.

Maybe I am wrong, I don't mean he is stupid in all things, I mean as far as his perceptions of his own fighting skills and applying them as effectively as possible I think he was totally clued out when compared to other boxers. Just because he had some really great skills and really didn't apply them as well as other boxers applied theirs in my opinion.