Tyson vs Ruddock fights

They were good fights, which showed that both men could give it and take it in spades. Very gruelling fights.

Ruddock was seen by some as the heir apparent to Tyson, around '89 onwards, when he started knocking people out.
He started out as a boxer, found out that he could hit like a mule, and basically became a powerpuncher, but one who neglected the finer points of the game.

I don't know how much the fights with Tyson really took out of him. He was interviewed by KO/World Boxing very shortly after the second fight where he apparently pounded his own ribs, as if to show that Tyson's body attack didn't permanently damage him.

That's not to say he was physically 100%, but perhaps he wasn't quite as badly off afterward as has sort of become accepted 'fact' around the forums.

What the fights may have done is shatter his confidence. Confidence is something that is often ignored when talking about a fighter's condition, but this game is largely mental, and if a guy busts you up pretty good over the course of two fights, scores four knockdowns and proves beyond doubt who is the better fighter, it's gotta take something away from you mentally.

 

These fights certainly answer questions about how tyson would cope against a superheavyweight.

He was as good as he possibly could have been in the first fight.

He would certainly have been the logical choice for the winner of douglas v holyfield.

 

:twisted:

 

Both guys showed a lot of desire to win in both fights but both took a lot of punishment. Those type of fights do in fact take a lot out of fighters. Tyson no longer had the defense that made him great. I think in the past he would have had a much easier time with Ruddock but nevertheless they were exciting fights and Tyson's timing and counterpunching was the difference.
Ruddock certainly got the worst of it in both fights particularly the second fight where he took a pretty bad beating over the course of 12 rounds.

That version of Tyson would have made a very exciting fight with Holyfield and Tyson at that time was capable of fighting 12 hard rounds, something he wasnt capable of doing later in 96 when him and Holyfield finally met.

 

Tyson looked in great condition for both fights. There were bull**** rumours going around (for the rematch) that Mike had been doing the party circuit & not training seriously. This was NOT the case.

Harry Carpenter, who had a good relationship with Tyson and whom Mike was fond of, went to watch Tyson training a couple of weeks before the June rematch. Harry confirmed Tyson was in great condition, was sharp in sparring, etc, etc.

Tyson weighed 217lbs for the first bout, and 216lbs for the second bout with Ruddock. That would be his lighest weight until the Holyfield rematch, where he scaled 218lbs.

His performance in the rematch is underrated, in my opinion. He busted Ruddock up, broke his jaw, knocked him to the canvas, etc. Ruddock was never the same after his two bouts with Tyson. Took a great deal of punishment.

 

IMO it was Lenny Lewis who RUINED Ruddock, By scrambling his brains with teh gigantic right to teh back of his head. Ma$$ive punches to teh back of a boxer's head like Lenny did, can cause ma$$ive brutal brain damage, And that is a FACT.deal


Foreman Hooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooook!:rasta

 

Ruddock was a top boxer when he faced Lewis.

Tyson didn't ruin ****. the two had a couple of hard fights. this isn't bloody tiddlywinks!

 

BUT did you read my last post m8???:think

MAYBE Lenny Lion ruined Razza with brutal brain damage???:!:

Ruddock had SHOT REFLEXES, timing, stamina And speed VS Tommy "teh timetraveller" Morrison.:verysad


Foreman Hooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooook!:rasta

 

No he wasnt. His subsequent performances after Lewis against live bodies proves as much.

 

Ruddock looked wild and out of control against Lewis. He really wasn't the same fighter a year and a half ago when riding a 10 fight KO streak and facing Tyson.

 

Ruddock thought he did.

A couple of hard fights isn't anything to over-look. One hard fight is all it takes to ruin a fighter. History shows this.

Grueling fights have a better chance of ruining a fighter than getting knocked out early with a single blow.

Now was Ruddock still good by Lewis? I don't know. I'm not him. And neither are you.

That said, the shot Lewis landed was solid.
But was this the same Ruddock that entered the ring against Tyson twice? I don't know. It's hard to think he was the same after two brutal fights where it left him the loser both times. And given he thought it took a lot out of him...I'll say Lewis didn't fight the same fighter. Now if he was "gone" as a fighter....that's a different story.

 

Two great fights between two guys who were young, strong, tough, in shape, and very powerful. Those guys landed a lot of bombs on each other in 19 rounds of hard fighting. Agree with those who say that the second fight proved that Tyson could endure a grueling 12-round battle. I don't doubt that such wars had to take something out of both.

That said, I think Lewis' physical attributes and style matched up very badly with Ruddock. Razor was able to lift up his arms and catch the shorter-armed Tyson's more looping blows. However, that type of defense did not work against a guy who was taller and had the longer reach, because Lewis could fire through or around or over Ruddock's guard, and hit him from far off. Ruddock got hit very hard and cleanly by a fast and strong guy whose long arms could blow right through him, and he was not able to block the blows, nor was he able to land against a guy with fast reactions and footwork and reach. That, combined with the fact that Razor was not quite the same after the brutal beating he suffered from Tyson, spelled a quick dispatch for him against Lewis.

 

Tyson ate some big bombs in those fights but they were always one at a time.

Razor actually made it easy for Tyson. No jab to worry about. No righthand to be concerned with just a big left coming. Mike wss able to read his punches pretty easy and counter Ruddock.

Foreman might have been an old man but he woudve at least used his jab and both hands. He wouldve given that Tyson more problems than a one handed Razor Ruddock