If it's Andy Ruiz (AJ 1 fight) I'd pick him. He showed everything: heart, chin, technique, timing, patience, gameplan... On the other hand I don't know Max Baer that well, I guess his masterpiece is Primo Carnera. A fight in which he was completely dominant. Max Baer's performance against Louis and Braddock IMO points to nothing but Andy Ruiz winning. This content is protected
To be fair Baer was an outright wreck against Louis, with bone chips in his damaged hand and a doctor's opinion that he should absolutely not take the fight.
Ruiz utterly destroys him. Quick hands, tight punches, great timing. He finds more openings than a Sunday hooker. This being the Ruiz who still was an active pro.
Baer while powerful just was not very skilled. No defense, semblance of a jab, and hell halfway to the floor when throwing an uppercut. Ruiz takes this easily.
It seems I am in the minority, but I have to go with the best version of Max Baer in this one. In my view, he is the pretty obvious pick really. I honestly do not give the best version of Andy Ruiz much of a chance in this match up.
How is he the obvious pick? I see no obvious advantages he has here except maybe power. Despite his reputation as having an iron chin, he hasn't taken punches from guys like Joshua, Ortiz, etc and remained upright.
I'm really not sold on Arreola being a better boxer than Baer, that's a strong claim. Arreola could get pretty sloppy and crude himself and wasn't hard to outbox. I do agree Ruiz probably wins this unless he turns up out of shape or walks right into the perfect punch.
