Ruddock vs Lewis - 24yrs ago tonight, what are your thoughts on it?

He's rated eighth by Ring. Wrong again.

http://www.ringtv.com/ratings/?weightclass=272

 

What are you talking about? Bonecrusher Smith was the WBA Heavyweight champion in 1987. The champ of the WBA. Rated at the top above all his challengers. He lost a unification with Tyson that year.

A few months later, he lost a reportedly bad hometown decision to Rodriques who immediately was rated highly by the WBA for beating Smith (because it was a big deal).

Smith came back in 1988 and destroyed Mike Rouse. In two fights, I think he floored Rouse 10 times. Their fights are on YouTube. When he wasn't on the deck, or getting punched out of the ring several times, Rouse was charging Smith and holding on for dear life, and in their first meeting he suffered a cut from banging heads. So the fight was called. Smith destroyed him both times.

And Bonecrusher didn't sign to fight Ruddock on short notice. Bonecrusher was goddamn promoter of the fight. Ali and Frazier were there. It was in Smith's hometown. It was televised nationally. It was kind of a big deal. And it was a great fight.

You clearly don't know what the hell you're talking about.

 

No, just someone who knows what the word overrated means.

Learn what words mean before you use them next time. @sshole.

 

You are a first class imbecile. If somebody believes a movie to be "overrated" do they go to the WBC or WBA ratings so they can know for sure?? If they think a car model is overrated do they go to the WBC ratings?

Overrated as it was referred to in here regarded peoples opinions, expectations etc.

Nunn tko1 Valdes, a fighter never stopped by punches in umpteen dozen fights, you f'n troll

 

Exactly.
Rating a fighter doesn't just include positioning on the ratings list, it includes expectations and assessment of overal ability.

 

I was shocked to be honest I didn't expect Lewis to be that aggressive that early against ruddock . I had thought Lewis would win via tko after the 9th .

 

="Dubblechin, post: 18231398, member: 107480"]What are you talking about? Bonecrusher Smith was the WBA Heavyweight champion in 1987. The champ of the WBA. Rated at the top above all his challengers. He lost a unification with Tyson that year.

I'm well aware of Smith's status at the time and the rest of the heavyweight scene as I was around to see it and have reflected on it many times since. Being WBA champ in early 1987 meant fvckall by the time Smith met Ruddock in mid 1989. In the interim he had aged 2.5 years, was mostly inactive, out of shape, and had beaten no one in nearly three years. BTW, his being WBA champ was tainted by the fact that the Witherspoon fight reeked of a dive and is something that many still debate to this day.

A few months later, he lost a reportedly bad hometown decision to Rodriques who immediately was rated highly by the WBA for beating Smith (because it was a big deal).

I didn't see his fight with Rodriguez but Adilson was never viewed as a serious contender by most. Even if you think Rodriguez was a good fighter and that Smith deserved the decision, this was still TWO full years prior to the Ruddock fight.

Smith came back in 1988 and destroyed Mike Rouse. In two fights, I think he floored Rouse 10 times. Their fights are on YouTube. When he wasn't on the deck, or getting punched out of the ring several times, Rouse was charging Smith and holding on for dear life, and in their first meeting he suffered a cut from banging heads. So the fight was called. Smith destroyed him both times.

Rouse was nobody and the only fight that Smith had within two years of fighting Ruddock.

And Bonecrusher didn't sign to fight Ruddock on short notice. Bonecrusher was goddamn promoter of the fight. Ali and Frazier were there. It was in Smith's hometown. It was televised nationally. It was kind of a big deal. And it was a great fight.

Would you like to know why Joe Frazier was in attendance? Because he was TRAINING Smith at the time. As for Smith promoting the fight himself, that part I didn't remember, but none of this changes the fact that he was CLEARLY out of shape, inactive, and ill prepared for that fight.. Despite all these things he floored and very nearly KO'd Ruddock in the second round of that match.

 

Well rounded post Goo.

 

Thanks mate. I'd like to look into that claim that Smith had promoted that fight. I was sure I read somewhere that he had taken it on short notice though I could be mistaken. I saw that fight live in 1989 and everyone else who saw it agreed that he looked deconditioned and lethargic. He was more or less gassed by about the 5th round. Hardly the same guy who was beating top raters way back in 86'

 

He fought James Broad on short notice and also the Witherspoon rematch. I have a feeling if he didn't promote the Ruddock fight he was heavily involved.

 

That was pretty much the story with Smith as I remembered him along with what I've gathered over the years. He turned pro at a late age and after a short amateur career. Worked as a prison guard while boxing pro on the side. Took fights on short notice. He had the complete description of a fighter who nobody intended to go anywhere. He does however deserve some credit for what he accomplished considering his beginnings.

 

Smith was a serious talent.
He needed more self-belief though. I think sometimes he was too aware of the fact that he was a late-starter and lacked the skills and background of many of his peers, so he tended to let some guys off too much. He was a little too worried about what they could do to him when they ought to be the ones worrying ! He almost let Bruno outpoint him, and he showed Tyson way too much respect.

He didn't lace on a glove until he was 23 or 24, and he didn't turn professional until he was 28 !

 

That may be true, although its virtually impossible to tell what a guy's mentality or feelings on any given issue are. In fairness though, he was in truth a novice thrown to the wolves early.. And some of those guys had immense power which a novice needs to be careful not to open up too much or get overly ambitious against. Bruno for all his shortcomings was a fighter who's power was to be respected.

 

I agree.
I think Smith's confirmed some of what I'm saying in interviews though, for example :

BoxingInsider.com: You didn’t start boxing professionally until age 28, why the late start?
Bonecruncher Smoth: Basically it was a fear of loss. A lot of my family and friends said that I would get hurt with a dangerous sport like boxing. I guess I probably believed some of that myself.


On the other hand, Smith had this to say :


BoxingInsider.com: How do you think your career would have been different had you started at say 20 or 21 years old?
Bonecruncher Smoth: I think that getting a late start in my career, at 28, was kind of an advantage to me in a way. If I had started at say 18, that would have been 10 additional years of trauma to my brain. Many fighters can’t function properly in society today because they so long.


Very sensible way of looking at it.
Although I think Smith STILL carried on way too long!

 

I loved the way Smith knocked Ruddock down in their fight.
And I loved the way Ruddock got up even more !