Since Bowe got into the hall of fame do jerry quarry and Tim Witherspoon deserve it

John Ruiz won it twice, too. He beat Holyfield (soundly) and Rahman.

And one could argue "two" future Hall of Famers (Roy Jones and James Toney) took PEDs to take the belts from him. (Toney got caught.)

And Ruiz held the title in total through five defenses. That's more than Witherspoon and Bowe combined.

Would you vote "yes" for him, too? Ruiz actually has better credentials than Witherspoon does.

 

Bowe was part of the argueably the greatest trilogy in heavyweight history, he deserves to be in there.

 

I'm sure he was voted in for that reason - same as Ken Norton and Ingemar Johansson.

Ruiz-Holyfield wasn't a great trilogy. Although, their first two fights were actually very good. The third fight - which was roundly insulted by Larry Merchant while it was going on (he counted the clinches) - seems to overshadow the two previous bouts.

But Ruiz didn't clinch as much as Hopkins and Wlad Klitschko would later on. Ruiz was just the guy who got the "clinch-ball" rolling again ... after it had sort of been phased out after the 1930s.

I'm not a Ruiz fan. But he achieved more than Quarry or Witherspoon did, and NOBODY is lobbying for Ruiz to get in.

 

I give Ruiz credit for his accomplishments, but he did it in a very poor unentertaining way, even going as far as rolling around on the canvas because he got punched low. He was just a very boring fighter with limited skills, but he did make the most of what he had and used the only promoter who could put him in a position to do so. Ruiz would have never been seen again after losing to Tua had he been with anyone other than King.

 

At the time of his second title victory, Witherspoon joined Floyd Patterson and Muhammad Ali as the only fighters to win multiple world heavyweight championships.

There are a few in the Hall of fame who said they took a dive. Jack Johnson, And Jake LaMotta come to mind.

I'd vote yes for 'Spoon

No, I would not vote for Ruiz. Ability counts for the hall of fame. Witherspoon had it. Ruiz had modest ability. Ruiz achieved status thanks to being the pet of Don King who rotated a bunch of his signed fighters in a forgetful series. Witherpsoon was the opposite. Don King at the height of his power black balled him.

As stated, boxing hall of fame is liberal in terms of merit, and heavyweights have the easiest path to make it.

When you consider Willard, Miske, Godfey and Braddock are in the hall of fame as heavyweights, you could say Witherpsoon belongs.

I predict one day Witherpsoon get in.

 

By your opinion Ruiz never used PED. Can you prove this ?
Considering the John "****ing" Ruiz's debut weight was only
184 pounds for 6'2" and he was a 20 years old man.
Sorry but you overrated Ruiz.
- Ruiz's Holyfield win means nothing. Holyfield was a tired
overused fighter against Ruiz.
- Toney outclassed him and knocked down Ruiz -NC or not.
- The faded Golota knocked down Ruiz two times.(It was a close
fight)
- Nobodies like Nicholson or Kobozev could beat Ruiz.
- Tua destroyed him in the first round at 0:19.
- Valuev beat him two times.
- Chagaev beat him.
- Aging Holyfield beat him.
-The small glass-chinned Roy Jones beat him easily.
-Haye destroyed and humiliated him.(Ruiz was down several times)
-He beat a mediocre Kirk Johnson by DQ10.
Yes he beat a faded Rahman.(Every actual decent fighter could beat
Rahman.)
Ruiz was a bad fighter a typical "right time right place " man
(bad chin,very limited skill, weak punching power and nearly zero speed-it was Ruiz.) He was the best-or worst- example how weak was the late 90s/2000s era.

 

did Witherspoon or Quarry ever beat someone as good as Holyfield? I think witherspoon beat Holmes, but officially those guys never beat anyone like Holyfield. They also weren't as talented as Bowe, and Quarry wasn't even a champion.

Both Quarry & Witherspoon have some very solid wins though and I think Witherspoon deserved the nod over Mercer.

 

So ... that's a NO then?

I don't think he deserves to get in either. I don't think Quarry does. And I don't think Witherspoon does.

That said, the first and second Ruiz-Holyfield fights were very entertaining bouts. Holyfield was past his prime, but they were good fights. Sort of like Quarry-Patterson.

 

Quarry defeated Patterson after a draw in their first fight.

Patterson's a true Hall of Famer.

Witherspoon didn't beat any all-time great. And having him publish books talking about how little he cared and dives he claimed to have taken doesn't help.

 

So patterson=holyfield? Not buying that. Holyfield is a top 10 HW. And a lot of people think patterson actually beat quarry twice.

 

As a pro HW R. Bowe beat every fighter he ever faced at some point with the exception of Buster Mathis Jr. He hit Mathis while Mathis was down on one knee and the fight was ruled a No-Contest in the 4th round.

Bowe went 2-1 (1) vs. Evander Holyfield. Holyfield was the only man who beat Bowe.

Overall Bowe went 43-1 (33) 1NC and 3-1 (2) in HW World Title Fights... 5-1 (4) if you count the WBO HW World Title Fights. He was the Undisputed (IBF, WBA, and WBC)/Lineal/Ring HW Champ when he beat Holyfield. He would later win the WBO HW Title... a 2x HW Champ if you want to count that.

He beat Pinklon Thomas KO8, Bert Cooper KO2, Tyrell Biggs KO8, Tony Tubbs W10 (close fight), Bruce Seldon KO1, Pierre Coetzer KO8 (a foul fest), Evander Holyfield x2... W12 and KO8, Michael Dokes KO1, Jesse Ferguson KO2, Larry Donald W12, Herbie Hide KO6, Jorge Gonzalez KO6, Andrew Golota x2... WDQ7 and WDQ9 (both men were down with legal blows, Bowe was down from low blows as well).

The loss to Holyfield was by majority-decision.

Bowe was very good, but he could be lazy. He had a good chin, big power in both hands, was a good overall fighter, decent speed, and a good hard jab among other things. He is 1 of only 3 Lineal HW Champs who were never stopped.

Jerry Quarry was a bleeder. He was stopped by Chuvalo, Frazier x2, Ali x2, and Norton. He did beat an up and coming but still green Ron Lyle by decision. He stopped Ernie Shavers inside of 1 round. He lost decisions to Eddie Machen and Jimmy Ellis. He won a close decision vs. Floyd Patterson and he also drew with him (both men hit the canvas).

 

A lot of people think Ruiz beat Holyfield twice. That's why they had an immediate rematch. And Ruiz dropped him and won convincingly in fight two.

That said, I still don't think Ruiz (or Quarry) deserve to be in.

 

....ok. well im not talking about ruiz or old Holyfield. I havent really scored any of those fights no desire to, they are ugly as hell. I am talking about how past prime Patterson was able to beat quarry twice. Quarry really didnt win either fights imo, and i dont think barely getting the win on points (imo) is the same as Bowe beating up Holyfield the way he did the first time.. and then being the first man to stop him.

 

Neither of them. I liked Witherspoon but he was the picture of inconsistency and questionable dedication.

Quarry would have made a great cruiserweight; it's a shame that division didn't exist for him at the time. But based on what he did at heavy, definitely not HOF. He was never closer than the 5th or 6th best heavy in the world; there were two many bigger and better guys around for him to contend with at the time, to his misfortune.

 

Undisputed and Lineal Champion certainly more worthy than Quarry or Witherspoon in my book.
Tim only ever won political versions of the title.