RJJ vs Jimmy Young 15 rd

Risko was what? How many fight reports of him from 1925 have you read?

 

Sorry, I can't remember that titbit off the top of my head.

 

Did some of you even watch the Jones-Ruiz fight? It wasn't much more than a sparring session and Ruiz wasn't allowed to use his clinching tactics like he was against everyone else. That really isn't a fight to use as a gauge for Jones at Heavyweight. He has rounds where he threw or landed in the single digits in punches. Perfect opponent, perfect time, perfect referee all on Jones terms. It wasn't a level playing field to what the other contenders in the Division had to face against Ruiz at the time.

 

Whenever they clinched, Jones tied Ruiz's hands up so that he could only wrestle in that position, couldn't throw any punches.

 

It was a terrible comparison by a poster who should know better.

 

Risko beat Rojas 5 months after facing Tunney, do you think he made some magical impovement in that time? Nice try though.
Ruiz's best win is over a 38 years old Holyfield.

I'm beginning to think someone is using Senya's username.:think

 

He didn't make any significant improvement, that's why he was easily outpointed by a lot of boxers, and many of them had done this more easily and impressively than Tunney. But that was nothing new to Tunney, he failed to impress in pretty much every second or third fight. Against Risko this was supposedly because of his fragile left hand:
"Gene, handicapped by that left hand of his, did not look like a championship contender."

Jack Delaney bout:
"Conceding nineteen pounds to Johnny Risko of Cleveland, Jack Delaney gave him a boxing lesson... Delaney's exhibition was masterful. In only the second round did Risko get as much as an even break, though he kept tearing in continually, unloosing giant swings, trying with all his slow-minded earnestness to wallop Monsieur Delaney into Fiftieth street."

another reporter:
"Jack Delaney sprayed Johnny Risko from forehead to belt with punches... Risko bore well his reputation as one who can take it. He has a round, firmly moulded chin and an expansive chest and stomach and the hardest punches that Delaney could turn loose bounced off him amazingly. He is tireless, too, and he didn't give Delaney a moment's rest from one end of the fight to the other. Round after round he rushed headlong at Jack, impaling himself on stabbing blows at almost every step..."

yet another:
"Johnny Risko was making his first appearance in the great city. Much has been written about him--that he was sturdy, could take a punch, was willing to mix matters and could hit hard. For once the reports did not overestimate, did not lie. He was all that. And yet in saying this I hasten to add that he is clumsy and awkward and would shine to advantage in 30 rounds better than in ten. In the hands of a master ring general, a sharpshooter of straight punches, a cool, deliberate strategist of the ring who never allows his temper to run away with his judgment such as is Delaney Risko was as a puppet, and yet the huskiest and strongest of that breed."


Young Stribling bout:
"Stribling fought the best fight he has ever shown in this neck of the woods. He was confident; almost too confident for his own good. That darting, snake-like left hand was beautiful to watch, but it did not seem to hurt Johnny. Stribling changed it to a left hook to the body, starting this blow off in just the same way. When Risko got to expecting this one, too, the Georgian would feint with his left, and then shoot in a marvelous straight right that sent the Cleveland heavy reeling. Never had the young Southerner boxed so consummately, with so much assurance. That was probably due to Risko. He seemed made to bring out the best that was in Stribling. He was just enough slower to make the Georgian's speed look even faster than it was, but Johnny was always dangerous. That brought Billy's defense into the limelight. Those ponderous lefts of Risko's that looked so good to the bugs farther back were usually taken on the gloves or the arms or the shoulders by Stribling. It was seldom that he was hit cleanly."

Here's Grantland Rice's description of it:
"The Georgia peach crop took on full bloom on Madison Square Garden last night where 15,000 howling, growling and scowling spectators saw Young Stribling of Georgia in the greatest fight of his ring career. Outweighed by 15 pounds, Stribling gave Johnny Risko of Cleveland a terrific beating, and, on at least three ocasions, had the game, tough westerner reeling upon unsteady feet, as only rare courage and stamina held him aloft. Risko fought with unabated fury, but the Georgian had too much speed, too much skill and the best wallop he has ever shown. He looked far better against Risko than Tunney, Delaney or Berlenbach looked, astonishing a big crowd by the ease with which he swarmed all over his man and frequently hammered him off balance with a fast left and a crashing right that on at least four occasions caught the heavyweight squarely on the jaw or mouth. Risko, with his great advantage in weight and his increased experience, was expected to make early trouble for the Georgian, but he never had a chance from the first moment Stribling's long and snake-like left nailed him two seconds after the fight started."

Another one:
"Pitted against one of the toughest and hardest hitting big men in the world, with a fourteen and a half pound disadvantage in weight, battling against a man who hit him low no less than nine times during the battle, Billy Stribling won by a wide, wide margin. Risko never fought more ferociously than he did against Stribling. He tore in wildly, his face twisted into a mask of determination, unleashing blow after blow. But the Georgian was the better boxer, the more timely hitter. And, when he found that John wanted to rough in the clinches, that was duck soup to the best rougher of them all. Billy Stribling fought the best fight he has ever shown a New York audience... He has proved himself one of the best men in his division, one well worthy of being given a shot at the championship--a shot that should result in a bull's eye."


Mike McTigue bout:
"Michael Francis McTigue felt good last night and decided to give the 3,837 customers at Madison Square Garden the surprise of their lives by polishing off Johnny Risko, the Cleveland baker, in artistic fashion. The big, clumsy, lumbering rubber man from the West trotted after Michael as fast as his fat legs could carry him, but the times that he laid a glove on the Irishman were few and far between. The crude, wild left swings that the baker specialized in amused McTigue greatly. He blocked them with consummate ease, tying Risko in knots in the process. The more viciously the bull-like Westerner charged in the easier it was for Mike to handle him. Risko's round, moon-like face took on an air of wonderment after a time and it was very clear that he did not understand what was happening to him. Try as he would, he could make no headway against McTigue's superb defense."


Tommy Loughran bout:
"Smooth Tommy Loughran of Philadelphia, master defensive boxer, ducked or blocked everything labelled "sure death" and shot in just enough left jabs to the face and right uppercuts to the body to win a hair-line decision over rushing, mauling Johnny Risko in the main bout of the Queensboro A. C.'s initial show last night in Mechanics Building. Risko, wilder, fiercer and more dangerous than ever, hurled his ponderous fists unceasingly at Smooth Thomas, but the Philadelphian, giving ground constantly, boxed rings around him, and scored frequently and cleanly enough to merit the favor of judges and referee."


Harry Persson bout:
"Harry Persson, the Swedish giant heavyweight, turned out to be a rough and bruising lad when he made his American debut at Madison Square Garden last night against Johnny Risko, the roly-poly baker boy from Cleveland. What he did to Risko was plenty. The wild left with which the Westerner had put Paul Berlenbach down on the floor meant little to this big Swede. Usually he blocked it with a cleverness that was surprisingly effective. But on the few occasions when Johnny did crash through with his one good offensive weapon, the new star among the heavies took it and came back for more. Persson is big. He stands six feet four inches and he weighs just 206 1/2 pounds, or 22 pounds more than Risko. While he seems to move a bit ponderously, he does manage to get out of harm's way with reasonable speed. When he finds that he can't duck a punch that is coming his way, he rolls with it very efficiently and nullifies its damage. As a boxer, Persson is still crude, but when compared with the rank and file of the heavies he is a regular Benny Leonard."

 

yes, ruiz was the only heavyweight in the history of the world that jones could have ever defeated. it was all a fix, the ref was in on it too. rico, you're such a waste. i've been waiting for your ken norton bashing since he's passed and had been ko'ed in a fight before.

 

At HW, Young a UD. I don't think anything more needs be said.