Wilder v Ruiz Cinco de Mayo MGM Grand

Boxers tend to be overbilled, some slightly and some by a huge amount. Ruiz is likely in the 5'11-6' range, he's way overbilled. Look at him in face-offs with Arreola, who is billed as 6'3 (though he's probably not that tall judging by his face offs with Adamek) and Ruiz looks a lot shorter. Ortiz is often listed as 6'4 but in the amateurs was billed as just under 6'2, he's also a lot taller than Ruiz. Fury isn't two inches taller than Wilder, more like an inch. Mike Tyson was often billed as 5'11 and three quarters when he fought but is today said to be 5'10, and so on.

In the case of Ruiz and Wilder I think it's significant to mention the revised heights because it's not a 5 inch difference (which would be huge in itself) but more like 7 inches. This would be the biggest height difference between Wilder and an opponent since he fought blown up super-middleweight Damon McCreary over a decade ago.

 

I see nothing wrong with this fight. Two guys in the top 10 heavy weight ranking going at it. Don’t know what the complaint is about.

 

"If Wilder was this Foreman-esque demolisher, he would've been flattening his upper echelon competition a lot quicker."

This is a misreading of the situation because Wilder is primarily a conservative sniper, not a pressure fighter or a brawler. Kownacki got Washington and Szpilka out in 2 and 4, Arreola got Molina out in 1, Stiverne got Arreola out in 6. Wilder is almost universally recognised as harder puncher than these fighters and a vastly harder puncher than most of them. He's happy to take his time while barely getting hit, he doesn't care too much about rounds because against most opponents he wins them automatically and his usual plan is to KO the opponent, which sooner or later he's always done against fighters like Ruiz. If Wilder connects early with a flush right hand he usually gets a 1st round KO. Stiverne 2 and Breazeale got caught early and didn't make 6 or 7 rounds as they did against Joyce and Joshua. Liakhovich and Manswell got caught early and didn't go all 10 or 8 as they did against Ruiz and Chagaev. The only fights in Wilder's career where he performed poorly in my view are Sconiers, Molina and Fury 2 (and even there his determination was always good).

Ruiz may have his moments but I don't think there's much he can do if Wilder keeps him on the end of a jab as he did Stiverne 1 or Arreola.

 

I favor Wilder by KO but its going to be the.....third or second best heavy Wilder has ever faced (below Fury and Ortiz?). Two top ten heavys fighting what's not to like

 

If Wilder beats Ruiz it will the best win of his career for sure. If Ruiz beats Wilder it would be his 2nd best win.

 

I doubt pbc would want to go up against Canelo. I needs me a link.

 

This fight just seems hilarious.
Ruiz getting wildly KO'd on Mexican international day, then Hearn's excuses for the AJ brand, then AJ's potential meltdown ... all great stuff.
If Ruiz somehow manages to avoid the bombs and bombs out Wilder, that would be head-scratching comedy. Wilder would have a brand new set of crazy theories for everyone to consider too.

 

If this fight does happened and Canelo wants to have one on the same day, he better have a good opponent or it will be very bad PPV.

 

Ruiz will only get up for this fight because he thinks Cinco De Mayo is some sort of sandwich.

 

I feel sorry for all the fans who missed out on the early/mid 90s when a typical Don King extravaganza would just stick fights like ...

Deontay Wilder vs. Andy Ruiz
Errol Spence vs. Keith Thurman
David Benavidez vs. Caleb Plant

... on the same card ... and toss in Tim Tszyu vs. Tony Harrison as the opener.

And that would be considered a "light" card, as it only features one title fight.

Now, they're four separate shows.

The older I get, the more I feel like there really aren't truly "bad" eras in boxing ... just eras where promoters don't know how to put on deep, rich full cards ... and eras where promoters DO.

 

Forget who wins I will just be happy to see a decent match up. It won’t be as easy for Wilder as people are saying but I would favour him for the Knockout.

 

The pre-Fury Wilder beats Ruiz handily. The post-Fury Wilder probably does also. I don't know what is left inside Wilder at 37 years old and two KO losses. But he looked pretty sharp and convincing for his comeback. I don't think he is shot yet. And because of that, I give him the win here, by KO. Maybe Ruiz is still close to his self version that has beaten Joshua once, but this guy deserves to pay for his lack of physical attributes, or should I say, his excess of physical attributes : at some point Hollywood will stop writing movie script for him. Add to it that he is just an inside brawler with quick hands. Wilder will have too many opportunities to land the big shot, and he can deal with some occasional inside pressure. Styles make fight? Wilder can't ask better here. Fat beluga will just run against Wilder shots.

Wilder by KO.

 

Personally I'd watch this match before a Canelo-Ryder joke.