Razor Ruddock vs Riddick Bowe + question

Razza was SHOT from Lenny Lion, so he had no chance in 92 VS Riddy Bowe.

 

Ruddock was already declining when he fought Tyson (Much as Tyson was). Watch his fight with Smith, his combination and explosiveness were awesome. Much as Tyson did he fell in love with his power, and his fights after this show a multi faceted power puncher, become a head hunting gotta have a spectacular early KO. A shame because by the time Ruddock and Tyson met, they were both past their absolute best. Yes, both were still near their physical peeks, but their training, corners and sharpness were not even close.

 

I think he's very much underrated. He didn't achieve that much but in terms of HW ability he's very good. 1 of the best HW left hooks ever, in terms of the speed of it, few could throw lead left hooks as quick. Huge, brutal power, quick jab (although flicked it a bit) and a good radar. Technically not the best, defensively if you got through his radar he was wide open and too 1 handed making him a tad predictable, although when he threw the right it wasn't a bad punch at all

 

I honestly don't think he looked much better in the washed up Bonecrusher match. Like most fighters, Ruddock did more fundamental things on the way up and he probably should have continued to do those things, but I wouldn't say he was declinded going into the Tyson fights, that was just the peak fighter he turned out to be. Loading up with huge left hands is what got him to dance.

I've always said Tyson looked pretty lethargic and sloppy in the second Ruddock fight, no argument there.

 

I dont think Ruddock was overated. He had a hell of a left hand, specifically in countering with the lefthook and uppercut. He caught a lot of guys with it and had some serious power. He wasnt overated just considered a big dangerous contender which he was. That being said Bowe had too much overall skills for him. It would have been a fun fight, but Bowe would have probably done the same thing Lewis did catching him leaning forward with his big righthand.

 

Sadly that Ruddock didnt exist at the elite level. He boxed pretty well on his way up against a shopworn Mike Weaver but fell in love with his power in fights against Smith and Dokes.

 

Im not arguing with that, what im trying to say is Lewis fans will always say 'Tyson fans only say he ruined Ruddock because LL knocked him out quicker'

 

Well that's exactly what Tyson fans do. Personally I don't rate the Ruddock win that highly for Lewis or Tyson and think he's slightly overrated. He had ok boxing skills, but they were made redundant when he 'fell in love with his power in fights with Dokes and Smith' as ETM quite rightly said.

Who's win do you think was better. Tyson's or Lewis'?

 

Tyson built Ruddock up though. He was considered a great win because for Lewis because of Ruddocks fights with Tyson, but in reality Tyson would have knocked out Ruddock in the first fight if Richard Steele wouldnt have intervened and Ruddock would not have been seen in the same way. Lewis in my opinion is quite overated overall.

 

I don't think Tyson would have KOed Ruddock immediately after the stoppage. Ruddock was reeling but he was protecting himself and had his hands up. He rocked Tyson in the 6th round and landed some good shots, so Mike kinda put the pressure on in the 7th to re-exert control of the fight.

 

Ruddocks legs were gone, he was going to get knocked out. When Ruddock got hurt his legs would go. In the Tyson fight the ropes were holding him up.

 

But then why is that hard to accept that Tyson ruined Ruddock? Bowe was ruined by the Holyfield fights but Ruddock is supposed to be fine after getting the **** kicked out of him for 19 rounds by Tyson?

I dont think Ruddock is overrated, maybe slightly underrated, he was a big name at the time and the most dangerous guy in the division. Watch the commentary after the Dokes fight in which the commentators accuse Tyson of ducking Ruddock.

Is Terry Norris better than Hagler because he did a better job on Mugabi?

Im not taking anything away from LL, it was a great win for him but i think Tyson deserves a bit more credit for ruining Ruddock. Which is what he did.

I do rank LL higher than Tyson, but H2H id pick Tyson to win

 

He was a solid top 3 contender at the time, and a man who some thought would be the next champ.. Ruddock was coming off of 10 strait knockouts, and while his best foes were aged, they were still active on the scene and better than the average joe.. Razor was a perfectly sculpted athlete in his prime... A second round win over him in 1992 would have been a good victory for anybody.

 

-Again, you won't find alot of people saying Evander ruined Bowe. Hell, the perception at the time was quite the opposite. The knock on Bowe was that he ruined himself witih poor training habits.

-There just isn't any evidence of a Ruddock decline going into the Lewis fight. So I don't understand the insecure claims that Tyson ruined him before Lewis. He got banged up against Tyson, took some time off, and came back without missing much of a beat.

Against Page, there is only mentions of understandable ring rust.

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And of course Ruddock looked as dangerous as ever, thrashing undefeated top 10 ranked Phil Jackson in one of his best wins and all around performances.

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So where are the claims of Ruddock being ruined coming from? Because he got knocked silly by a flush Lewis right hand in his next fight while dancing around like a dumbass with his hands down? Yeah, because fighters normally don't go down after eating flush shots from Lewis.

 

Regardless of Phil Jacksons top 10 rating He was a manufactured contender who had little skills and really had no business in the top ten. Like many fighters placed in the top ten by Don King he quickly faded away. Some guys like John Ruiz actually proved their merit Jackson was never any good second and third chance.