Ruddock - Where do you rank him...

[Russell]

Power wise?

What were his most impressive knockouts? Did he stop anyone with an iron chin?

Is he in your top 25 powerwise?

[Sonny's jab]

He hit hard.

Bonecrusher Smith was probably the most durable fighter he stopped. But Smith was visibly out-of-shape, a bit old, and no longer a real contender. But he had a great chin.

Actually the most impressive thing about Ruddock in that fight was not him stopping Smith but when he got floored by one of the Bonecrusher's best right hands, and picked himself up off the floor to win.
Bonecrusher was probably the hardest hitting heavyweight of the 80s, and he hit Ruddock with an awesome right hand to the temple that dumped Ruddock down hard.

[My dinner with Conteh]

Dokes had a pretty good beard.

[Titan1]

Dokes had a pretty good beard.

Unfortunately, he didn't have the skills to go with it at that time.

[fists of fury]

Ruddock's a bit of an anomaly regarding his power. Most fighters don't develop power during their careers, but Razor went from a pro that jabbed and moved, to a power-puncher. In all likelihood he probably always could punch, but in his earler fights, he was known as a boxer and not a puncher.

He started creating a buzz about his power in around 1989, and by 1990/1991he was pretty much unanimously regarded by magazines as the fighter with the hardest punch in boxing, despite Ring magazine stating the Tyson was the better puncher.
Certainly Tyson was impressed by Ruddock's power. He claimed it was like a mule kick.

I wouldn't know where to rank him and frankly I'm not bothered where exactly he stands, but if pressed I'd rank him with the elite as far as single hard punches go.

[Russell]

Actually the most impressive thing about Ruddock in that fight was not him stopping Smith but when he got floored by one of the Bonecrusher's best right hands, and picked himself up off the floor to win.
Bonecrusher was probably the hardest hitting heavyweight of the 80s, and he hit Ruddock with an awesome right hand to the temple that dumped Ruddock down hard.

Yeah, a few posters on here remark here and there on Ruddock's amazing ability to get up.

He looked like he was shot when Morrison knocked him down, but lo and behold, he got up.

Pretty lucid after Tyson bashed him around.

And, he went the distance with Tyson the second time around.

[DamonD]

I've got a copy of Ruddock-Smith, he really wipes out...but, typical Ruddock, he's laughing while he's down there and gets back up. It clearly hurt (hell, it must've, a flush short right from Bonecrusher) but he recovers.

It's tough to think where to place him. Probably as a genuine contender, if not a champion. He was a 'one trick pony' for most of his career, which is a shame as he had a very powerful jab when needed, but it was certainly a very impressive trick...

I do wonder sometimes how he would've done if he hadn't had the loss to Lewis, and the inactivity that followed.

[JohnThomas1]

I've got a copy of Ruddock-Smith, he really wipes out...but, typical Ruddock, he's laughing while he's down there and gets back up. It clearly hurt (hell, it must've, a flush short right from Bonecrusher) but he recovers.

It's tough to think where to place him. Probably as a genuine contender, if not a champion. He was a 'one trick pony' for most of his career, which is a shame as he had a very powerful jab when needed, but it was certainly a very impressive trick...

I do wonder sometimes how he would've done if he hadn't had the loss to Lewis, and the inactivity that followed.

I think the placement question is power only.

[DamonD]

Well, can't argue with a guy like Tyson giving him props, Mike's been hit by a lot of big names! Tommy Morrison also agreed with Tyson's assessment, he said Ruddock was the hardest hitter he fought.

The Dokes KO was chilling, Dokes wasn't even the same fighter as when he fought Holyfield but you just still didn't see that kind of thing happen to a durable guy like Dokes. That counts a lot for me. Even late in his career, I remember Ruddock utterly discombobulating ol' Jose Ribalta with a single sweeping left in '99.

[JohnThomas1]

Well, can't argue with a guy like Tyson giving him props, Mike's been hit by a lot of big names! Tommy Morrison also agreed with Tyson's assessment, he said Ruddock was the hardest hitter he fought.

The Dokes KO was chilling, Dokes wasn't even the same fighter as when he fought Holyfield but you just still didn't see that kind of thing happen to a durable guy like Dokes. That counts a lot for me. Even late in his career, I remember Ruddock utterly discombobulating ol' Jose Ribalta with a single sweeping left in '99.

Yeah, Rudduck had frightening power. It's funny, during the Crusher fight the tators disregarded Razor's power compared to Smith's but it can't have been far behind if any. One wonders if they changed their mind later.

[Holmes' Jab]

Actually the most impressive thing about Ruddock in that fight was not him stopping Smith but when he got floored by one of the Bonecrusher's best right hands, and picked himself up off the floor to win. Bonecrusher was probably the hardest hitting heavyweight of the 80s, and he hit Ruddock with an awesome right hand to the temple that dumped Ruddock down hard.

Yeah, I agree. That was one heck of a shot to get up off the deck from and win. When I think of Ruddock the first thing which springs to mind was his amazing recuprative powers he demonstrated it various times throughout his career.

The harpoon-like right hand that Lewis floored him with in the opening round of their fight is another example, though that time Razor didn't weather the storm ...

[DamonD]

I wouldn't mind watching that fight again, oddly enough.

Not that it's an awesome fight...I used to find Bonecrusher supremely frustrating to watch in a lot of his late-career efforts, because he could see the openings but not throw the punches...but the last 3 rounds or so are, between Ruddock going down and then Smith for the finish.

Seem to recall that the Ruddock KD came when they both went for punches, ended up kinda shoulder-to-shoulder, then as then turned around Smith came over with this short right-hand blast and down went Ruddock.

The Smith KD...it was a couple of Smashes that had him wobbly, then a couple more shots and he went down right under the ropes, I believe.

[DamonD]

The harpoon-like right hand that Lewis floored him with in the opening round of their fight is another example, though that time Razor didn't weather the storm ...
Well, 'harpoon' is a beautifully accurate way of describing it, it stole Ruddock's legs out from under him. But he still got up, still tried punching his way out of danger in the second round, and it took several more hard shots to put him down for keeps.

[JohnThomas1]

I wouldn't mind watching that fight again, oddly enough.

Not that it's an awesome fight...I used to find Bonecrusher supremely frustrating to watch in a lot of his late-career efforts, because he could see the openings but not throw the punches...but the last 3 rounds or so are, between Ruddock going down and then Smith for the finish.

Seem to recall that the Ruddock KD came when they both went for punches, ended up kinda shoulder-to-shoulder, then as then turned around Smith came over with this short right-hand blast and down went Ruddock.

The Smith KD...it was a couple of Smashes that had him wobbly, then a couple more shots and he went down right under the ropes, I believe.

Good memory.

:good

[mr. magoo]

It's difficult to give Ruddock an accurate rating in terms of where he lies with the rest of the big bombers. Most of his best wins came against past prime versions of Smith, Dokes, Page, Broad and Weaver. Of course Tyson admitted full heartedly, that Ruddock hit hard enough, but then Tyson survived Razor's power, while he couldn't last against others. I remember watching Ruddock's fights with Smith, Dokes and Odum. The Dokes fight was on paper view on the same card as Boncrusher vs Weaver II. The Smith and Odum fights were some of the last heavyweight contender bouts that I ever watched on regular network television.

[Muchmoore]

Ruddocks power is top 25 of all time.

[Sonny's jab]

Yeah, Rudduck had frightening power. It's funny, during the Crusher fight the tators disregarded Razor's power compared to Smith's but it can't have been far behind if any. One wonders if they changed their mind later.

As fists of fury mentioned earlier Ruddock was a guy who developed his power after first becoming a somewhat established fighter.

The Smith fight and the Dokes fight were the fights that really put him up there as a frighteningly powerful fighter (esp. the Dokes KO of course).

In 1986 Ruddock had earned a ranking in some circles with a victory over Mike Weaver, but reports are that he played stick-and-run for 10 rounds to earn the decision. Weaver wasn't exactly the most durable fighter either, I'm guessing the Ruddock of a few years later would have relished a war with him, and would be aiming to go home early.

Through 1987 and 1988 Ruddock started to develop a bit more aggressive style. I think he scored a couple of devastating KOs over some okay journeymen (James Broad, maybe. Reggie Gross or Mike Rouse). The KO of Smith put him up there, and proved his heart too.

So going into the Smith fight, Ruddock was known to be improving as a confident and powerful puncher, but had not transformed himself fully into an earth-shattering monster. I've heard he was a bit safety concious and not much of a puncher in his early prospect days, so I guess that still hung over him.

Tyson-Ruddock was first scheduled for November 1989, this was before Ruddock had beaten Dokes. Apparently the fight was cancelled because Tyson was partying hard, and when he and his trainers got down to viewing the tape of Ruddock it was decided that Tyson needed more time. What happened is that it was cancelled and was not rescheduled - an easier opponent (Buster Douglas) was scheduled for a couple of months later.
Ruddock's rep was really cemented with the Dokes win a couple of months after Tyson had lost the title, but it seems Tyson's team were a bit wary of putting an ill-prepared Tyson in with him before that .

[bigG]

big powerful brave guy....his war with tommy morrison was memorable.....

[JohnThomas1]

As fists of fury mentioned earlier Ruddock was a guy who developed his power after first becoming a somewhat established fighter.

The Smith fight and the Dokes fight were the fights that really put him up there as a frighteningly powerful fighter (esp. the Dokes KO of course).

In 1986 Ruddock had earned a ranking in some circles with a victory over Mike Weaver, but reports are that he played stick-and-run for 10 rounds to earn the decision. Weaver wasn't exactly the most durable fighter either, I'm guessing the Ruddock of a few years later would have relished a war with him, and would be aiming to go home early.

Through 1987 and 1988 Ruddock started to develop a bit more aggressive style. I think he scored a couple of devastating KOs over some okay journeymen (James Broad, maybe. Reggie Gross or Mike Rouse). The KO of Smith put him up there, and proved his heart too.

So going into the Smith fight, Ruddock was known to be improving as a confident and powerful puncher, but had not transformed himself fully into an earth-shattering monster. I've heard he was a bit safety concious and not much of a puncher in his early prospect days, so I guess that still hung over him.

Tyson-Ruddock was first scheduled for November 1989, this was before Ruddock had beaten Dokes. Apparently the fight was cancelled because Tyson was partying hard, and when he and his trainers got down to viewing the tape of Ruddock it was decided that Tyson needed more time. What happened is that it was cancelled and was not rescheduled - an easier opponent (Buster Douglas) was scheduled for a couple of months later.
Ruddock's rep was really cemented with the Dokes win a couple of months after Tyson had lost the title, but it seems Tyson's team were a bit wary of putting an ill-prepared Tyson in with him before that .

Thanks Sonny, it's crystal clear now

:good

[DamonD]

Ruddock was indeed meant to be a bit of a stick 'n' mover in his earlier, lighter days. Like so many guys he looked up to Ali and that way of fighting.
Kind of an interesting idea to try to pinpoint the time when he realised he most liked swinging that big left and knocking guys out rather than potshotting...you're definitely right that prime Ruddock-Weaver would've been a bomb-fest.

[CzarKyle]

An insanely powerful puncher with no brain. He had every tool to be better than any boxer out there, but he went through trainers like crazy. He's one of my favorites, but it pisses me off when I see all that wasted talent. Watch him against Greg Page (could be a different opponent) he keeps lookin' for the quick KO while inbetween rounds Floyd Patterson gives him advice that falls on deaf ears.

[Vantage_West]

i think he just didnt have the right hand to back it up. his left hook was maybe the best signture punch of all time. he was a grweat boxer but if he wasa puncher before hand with the right hand...he would of been somthing

[Vantage_West]

.

[Titan1]

An insanely powerful puncher with no brain. He had every tool to be better than any boxer out there, but he went through trainers like crazy. He's one of my favorites, but it pisses me off when I see all that wasted talent. Watch him against Greg Page (could be a different opponent) he keeps lookin' for the quick KO while inbetween rounds Floyd Patterson gives him advice that falls on deaf ears.

Page could take a tremendous wallop, so for him not to get that quickie kayo, is somewhat understandable.But Ruddock was something special for a time.