Ruddock had that power whilst Mercer had the shock absorber of a Chin. Both guys coming in at their best? I'd say Mercer could actually get him self a tight decision whilst finishing with a bashed up face. Would love to have seen this back in the day.
Leaning towards Mercer but I wouldn’t bet money on it. This would be about as good of a fight as you can get
Mercer for me. By the time he reached his prime, Ruddock's style seemed to have devolved into just throwing one wound up bomb at a time. I don't see that working against somebody as durable as Mercer. I think Mercer (Lewis version) outworks Ruddock to get the UD. Style-wise, I think the earlier version of Ruddock that fought Weaver may have matched up better with Mercer. Ruddock was on his toes a lot more around that time. Used his jab and right hand much more. Completely different fighter from the later version who fell in love with his power, and would just wing the occasional bomb all night.
Ruddock is a difficult guy to assess. He was finished after 1992...mentally and physically ruined by Tyson and than turning up like a zombie to be executed by Lewis. The prime Ruddock was a physical specimin. You look at his 1986 sparring with Larry Holmes and the win over a still useful Mike Weaver and he was a athletic very mobile boxer . Inventing a new hybrid punch turned him into a slugger who neglected his skills and right hand. During this time he had a very good chin and he beat Bonecrusher and Dokes and went 19 rounds with Tyson. That Ruddock beats any version of Mercer perhaps even stops him. I feel we never saw the very best of Ruddock. If around '86 a Eddie Futch had taken him on ,tightened his defence and encouraged his boxing IQ to flow we would have seen a Heavyweight very much capable of competing with the Big 4 in the post prison Tyson void. Mercer also neglected his skills. I think he was at his peak around 95/96 and deserved the nod versus Lewis.
If he could take the movement from Lewis and make it a fight, he could against Ruddock, he’d land that jab and Ruddock can’t just stay away, it becomes a fight and Mercer shortens up his punches better. Ruddock put the earmuffs on very high which gives Mercer plenty of room to go to that body, then he’d go over the top with combinations, he beats him late stoppage or on points. I actually think Mercer is more skilled, people get skill and ability to box at distance mixed up, Mercer had more tricks up his sleeve, he used his strength up close more effectively and knew what to do with his guard up close, knew when to punch and how to get opponents to commit up close, knew how to push opponents to get punches off and was more fluid up close, Ruddock was sort of upright, earmuffs and stiffer up close which makes him more predictable and more easy of a target. If the fight stays at range, it’s more competitive, but there’s no reason it would since Mercer was able to close the distance on Lewis, but even if it did stay at range, I see no reason why Mercer can’t out jab him in a similar way that Bruno outjabbed Lewis, but he wouldn’t even need to do that, he could combine what Bruno did against Lewis with actual inside fighting to win a relatively comfortable fight, of course I’m taking both at their best, I know Mercer was inconsistent at the best of times.
The ruddock that fought dokes and Tyson beats Mercer via Dec …… Mercer couldn’t even beat a 42 yr old Holmes and razor ruddocks sparring partner Jesse Ferguson and struggled to beat Ferguson in the rematch badly and lost to Marion Wilson but was given a draw
