Razor ruddock vs evander holyfield in 1991???

Ruddock would have KO'd Holyfield inside the distance if he had the discipline to use the weapon in his arsenal that earned him his nickname.

Razor Ruddock had a razor sharp jab, comparable to that of Holmes and Ali. He never used it against both Tyson and Lewis which was his downfall. Ruddock tried to overload that hybrid left-hook-uppercut smash against Tyson and Lewis without setting up his punches properly.

In the late 80's and early 90's many heavyweight fighters found excuses not to get in the ring with Ruddock. Murad Mohammad certainly didn't help his career, and his head wasn't screwed on right against Tommy Morrison.

 

Holyfield would STOP Ruddock via TKO mid to late rounds. Styles makes fights. He would counter punch the hell out of Razor's telegraphed, wide open smash. Holyfield would work with combinations and relentlessly punch Ruddock to take him out on his feet. Holyfield was a very savvy fighter who would have an easy time avoiding Razor's predictable smash. Razor may have his moments by stunning Holyfield but Holy was always known to have a great chin, heart, and recuperative powers. No way is Razor knocking out Holyfield.

 

I think if this fight had gone ahead in 1991,Holyfield would have won on points.

 

I think of the few posts thus far written, this one is the most likely outcome.

Not a day has gone by in the last 18 years that I haven't contemplated who would have taken this one. In 1991, these two men were in the midst of their primes and had as much desire to be called "the champ" as anyone ever could have. While Ruddock was certainly hot in those days and had both the durabilty and power to battle life and death with Evander, I think at the end of the day Holyfield was in a higher class and would out hussle him to a decision in a very crowd pleasing match.

Possibly one of the best matches that went unmade in the 90's.

 

i could be wrong here, but didnt holy duck ruddock to fight george foreman. anyways, judging by the foreman fight i could see razor scoring a ko. all one has to do is observe how much trouble foreman gave holy, now imagine him fighting a faster,harder hitting, more aggresive and youthfull opponent.

also i dont think holy has the pop to worry ruddock, who has a solid chin as well as great recuperative abilities. hell tyson bombed razor with amazing regularity and still couldnt get him out of there in the 2nd fight.

i could see holy boxing his way to a close decision, but giving his propensity to brawl pre bowe 2, i have him as the 55/45 underdog.

 

foreman fought a much more intelligent fight than razor ever could. he boxed and timed his punches and had a much higher punch output. you can't compare tyson & holyfield against ruddock. tyson did not box or throw much combinations or even follow up against ruddock. the brief exception was round 7 and you saw what happened. i know people argue the stoppage but it just prevented a 30 more seconds of the fight where tyson would have gotten another great KO reel. my point is that holyfield would box. he would throw combinations and follow up. he would resemble tyson of round 7 but instead of explosive power he'd have heavy hands that would cumulatively break down ruddock in 8 rounds. he wouldn't give ruddock rests or time to recover like tyson did.

tyson just threw big punches few and far in between. even then, tyson didn't make his punches heavy - he focused on speedy delivery (like ali of the 60s vs ali of the 70s, like tyson's quick rights against ruddock that got flash kds vs his heavy right hand against botha or lewis' right against ruddock).

holyfield's heavy hands and non-stop pressure combinations would not let ruddock escape. tyson didn't let ruddock escape in round 7 whereas in fight 2 he had many chances to take out ruddock but chose to throw one punch at a time. holyfield was in top form at 1991. so glad holy fought foreman who was a much worthier fighter. old foreman gets underrated whereas ruddock is most revered for two losses. besides, he was never the same again after his two beatings against tyson.

no way is one handed ruddock knocking out holyfield. if foreman, lewis, and tyson couldn't do it - ruddock has a proverbial puncher's chance of 1/10000. btw i didn't count the zeroes. :good

 

I pick Holyfield but Ruddock could punch with that left hook. He sure cranked it up. Evander would avoid it and win a decision.