Razor Ruddock V Riddick Bowe

True, it's his best achievement for sure, well it;s the vast majority really.

 

Meh, at least he beat holyfield. Who has jack dempsey ever beaten?

 

Ruddock's biggest fault was that he telegraphed his punches. His best punch in my view was his left uppercut, and he always telegraphed it by pulling the punch down to his belt, leaning a little to the left and stepping in before throwing it.

Respectfully, we seem to have forgotten that Bowe's biggest weapon was Eddie Futch, and Bowe listened to Futch. So here's how I see it:

Bowe looks like crap in round one and then between rounds his corner tells him, in no uncertain terms, "Why are letting this guy get close to you? When he steps in to land the uppercut, step back and counter-right!" Bowe does this in round 2, knocks Ruddock on his ass and hurts him, then goes in for the kill, an all-akimbo but not quite out on his feet Ruddock gives the ref cause for concern and the fight is stopped - Bowe TKO 2.

 

Bowe knocks him out late. Bowe had perhaps the best natural ability among HWs of the last 20 years. Because he was an under-achiever, he tends to be underrated in these H2H matches. He beats Ruddock up, and knocks him out.

 

Bowe failed to stop Tony Tubbs whose durability seems less proven than Ruddocks. Golota was also able to take his shots even though Lewis blasted Golota out quicker than Ruddock.

 

What natural ability ?

Bowe was a Good in fighter for a big man with a good chin.

he had horrible defense and could'nt handle a jab.

I would rank both Tyson and Lewis above Bowe in natural ability.

Bowe won the holyfield trilogy thats it he loses that trilogy and we would not be talking about him today.

 

And Ruddock feasted on aging former alpha champions, plus was beaten more decisively than Bowe ever was. So what's your point?

 

Bowe showed real promise in his first fight with Holyfield, and with Eddie Futch as his trainer it's surprising he didn't improve.

Futch used to tell the media he didn't care what Bowe weighed, I dont know if that was the right thing to say, or whether Futch meant it at all or was saying something else to Bowe in private.
Bowe's conditioning let him down.

He still showed impressive skills in dismantling of Jesse Ferguson and the 2nd Holyfield fight, which he may have won if he'd been lighter.

But by the time of the 3rd Holyfield fight, Bowe looked a bit wild and crude. He was never the finished article, and his conditioning and weight made him age fast, while his skills seemed to decline.

Flaws and errors that looked like they could be corrected when he won to title - and he was shaping up like a COMPLETE fighter, IMO - became more pronounced a couple of years later.
I can only assume Bowe didn't like the gyn much.

 

Ruddock had massive power, and he was faster than Bowe, so he'd have a punchers chance for sure, which makes the fight interesting.

But one thing I've noticed about Razor's defense is that he mostly uses arm lifts and clinching to defend blows. He had little to no head movement and not much of a guard. That works best when you have height and reach advantages, as it did when he fought Tyson, who tried to loop his arms around and through that guard, but had troubles given his shorter height and reach. But Lennox Lewis with his height and long arms was able to fire right through or over that guard right onto Razor's chin.

I suspect that with Bowe being 6'5" and with long arms, and with the big power that he had, he would land solidly on Razor and take him out. I like Bowe's defense and overall boxing skills better than Razor's. So fun fight but in the end I take Bowe by KO.

 

bowe on points

 

You'd have to favor Bowe but there is a reason why both Bowe and Holyfield avoided Ruddock.

 

Bowe is way too busy and way too active for the guy. Ruddock likes that snails pace and this guy throws way too many combos and Ruddock is right there to be hit. Bowe will pepper this guy and the low Ruddock gas tank will drain fighting at a much higher pace than he wants to. tko7.

 

Bowe by KO in an entertaining fight.