Worst Heavyweight Title Fight?

[la-califa]

Of History's Heavyweight Champions, Which two would make the Worst Heavyweight Championship fight in History?

[la-califa]

I might have to go with John Ruiz .vs. Leon Spinks. Ultimatley Spinks might squeek out with the Win.

[Thread Stealer]

John Ruiz vs. Hasim Rahman

That fight already did take place.

[C. M. Clay II]

Baer-Braddock was the worst fight I've ever seen.

[round15]

Any fight with John Ruiz on the card has the potential to be the worst fight ever. It can only get worse every time he fights.

[The Kurgan]

I might have to go with John Ruiz .vs. Leon Spinks. Ultimatley Spinks might squeek out with the Win.

Nah, Spinks was at least active and aggressive at all times. Even his skills were hardly bad; he had a good bob-and-weave and wasn't exactly a windmill puncher.

I'd say Henry Akinwande vs. John Ruiz.

[Bill1234]

I'm gonna 2nd Akinwande-Ruiz. :dead

[Russell]

Akiwande put on some decent fights. Watching him destroy Peter McNeely definitely wasn't boring.

Lennox/Akiwande was fucking terrible though. Forget Ruiz fights.

[Bill1234]

Akiwande put on some decent fights. Watching him destroy Peter McNeely definitely wasn't boring.

Lennox/Akiwande was fucking terrible though. Forget Ruiz fights.

I do my best to forget John Ruiz's fights.

[Russell]

I'm watching Akiwande/Lennox right now. :-(

[Bill1234]

I'm watching Akiwande/Lennox right now. :-(

Why would you do that on purpose?

[Russell]

Curiosity, nothing else.

[ChrisPontius]

Interestingly, Ruiz-Chagaev was a very exciting fight, where they traded with very little holding for the first 7 rounds. After that, Ruiz got tired and went back to huggie style.

[Russell]

I honestly can't fault Ruiz.

He's not a physical specimen. He never will be.

He's gotten a lot out of what he has and even after a brutal KO loss against Tua that ends some peoples careers (Jeremy William's against Peter anyone?) he adapted and had a successful career.

Akiwande I can fault more cause the dudes six foot fucking seven with a 86' inch reach among a dozen other physical tools he's got to work with.

[Polymath]

I honestly can't fault Ruiz.

He's not a physical specimen. He never will be.

He's gotten a lot out of what he has and even after a brutal KO loss against Tua that ends some peoples careers (Jeremy William's against Peter anyone?) he adapted and had a successful career.

Akiwande I can fault more cause the dudes six foot fucking seven with a 86' inch reach among a dozen other physical tools he's got to work with.

Ruiz is/was a talented fighter, he's not a club fighter/bum who somehow became a world champion by holding (despite what Zakman would have you believe) - if you remember the support he had early in his career (and it wasn't just partisan Latino support) it was based on the fact that he did seem to be the best of the young crop of heavies of the era. yes, it is true that the Tua fighter changed him for the worse- but hes definitely a betterfighter than the likes of Akinwande.

[Polymath]

The worst fight I think I've ever seen was Skelton/Chagaev, none of these matchups could be as bad as that. What made is worse was I had a couple of non boxing fan friends round to watch, having seen Skelton is a vaguely entertaihning British domestic fight and assuming the moniker 'White Tyson' denoted at least some semblance of excitement. The result- what appeared to be two pudgy middle aged men embracing each other for half an hour- probably put two people off the sport of boxing for life :lol:

[80s champs]

Tyson/ Spinks. Sure Tyson looked awesome,but the fight was way too quick. Spinks was'nt even a full fledged Heavyweight (that's debateable I guess). He took the punches like a light heavyweight. The superfight of 88 was a mismatch. But it was the best match for Tyson at the time. Spinks did look good early in his heavyweight rein though.

[The Kurgan]

Akiwande put on some decent fights. Watching him destroy Peter McNeely definitely wasn't boring.


Akinwande was a choker: whenever he was facing a C class or better boxer he was outrageously dull. He couldn't fight a lick on the inside. The only time I found him vaguely entertaining was well Oliver McCall beat him silly on the Lewis-Rahman undercard.

[kosaros]

The worst fight I think I've ever seen was Skelton/Chagaev, none of these matchups could be as bad as that. What made is worse was I had a couple of non boxing fan friends round to watch, having seen Skelton is a vaguely entertaihning British domestic fight and assuming the moniker 'White Tyson' denoted at least some semblance of excitement. The result- what appeared to be two pudgy middle aged men embracing each other for half an hour- probably put two people off the sport of boxing for life

I remember that fight, that is probably one of the worst world title fights but skelton was in an even worse fight with michael sprott, i know its not a world title fight but i had to mention it due to the fact an average of 50 punches between both fighters was thrown over 12 rounds.

[tylerrcurtis]

wlad/sultan msg? anybody at all recall this? or do we all just want to forget the slap down by wlad?

[Longhhorn71]

Of History's Heavyweight Champions, Which two would make the Worst Heavyweight Championship fight in History?

That Russian Giant Nikolai Valuev vs 5' 7" Tommy Burns.

[CottoDaBodykill]

leon spinks would ...and i repeat WOULD kick the bloody piss out of ruiz ...

[SuzieQ49]

c

[Loewe]

Any fight with John Ruiz on the card has the potential to be the worst fight ever. It can only get worse every time he fights.

You haven´t seen his fights with Valuev and Chagaev then. Also his fights prior the Tua fight. Tua changes his style and he changed it again recently.

[Loewe]

Ruiz is/was a talented fighter, he's not a club fighter/bum who somehow became a world champion by holding (despite what Zakman would have you believe) - if you remember the support he had early in his career (and it wasn't just partisan Latino support) it was based on the fact that he did seem to be the best of the young crop of heavies of the era. yes, it is true that the Tua fighter changed him for the worse- but hes definitely a betterfighter than the likes of Akinwande.

:good Ruiz get´s too much shit and no respect. Pretty sad if imo. He would fight anyone enywhere, always shows up in shape, always is respectful, he is a very good person with all his charity work and he seems to be a nice bloke. If you than take into consideration that he´s a two-time world champ and beat some pretty good opposition. He´s ties with Byrd as the best hw between Lewis and Wlad.
Sadly most guys just hate on him without even trying to be objective.

[Loewe]

The worst fight I think I've ever seen was Skelton/Chagaev, none of these matchups could be as bad as that. What made is worse was I had a couple of non boxing fan friends round to watch, having seen Skelton is a vaguely entertaihning British domestic fight and assuming the moniker 'White Tyson' denoted at least some semblance of excitement. The result- what appeared to be two pudgy middle aged men embracing each other for half an hour- probably put two people off the sport of boxing for life :lol:

Chagaev isn´t middle-ages, he isn´t even 30.

[Loewe]

wlad/sultan msg? anybody at all recall this? or do we all just want to forget the slap down by wlad?

It wasn´t that bad. It just was considering the expectations we had because Wlad was fighting. Actually, it was an average hw fight in our times.

[The Kurgan]

To use two boxers who weren't usually boring, how about Ingemar Johanssen vs. Jersey Joe Walcott? I'm not expecting much in the way of action there because their styles match up horribly. Johanssen didn't like to come forward and Jersey Joe Walcott was content to box and move against big hitters.

[round15]

You haven´t seen his fights with Valuev and Chagaev then. Also his fights prior the Tua fight. Tua changes his style and he changed it again recently.

True, I haven't seen those fights in their entirety, only highlights.

Regardless, John Ruiz is still synonimous with mugging, hugging, grabbing, and complaining about fake low blows. This is the exact reason why I believe he's the worst heavyweight fighter in the history of the sport.

I'll most certainly give him all the credit for being a fighter and like every other professional boxer, having the guts to step into the squared circle for a liviing. He's just extremely painful to watch.

[Loewe]

Regardless, John Ruiz is still synonimous with mugging, hugging, grabbing, and complaining about fake low blows. This is the exact reason why I believe he's the worst heavyweight fighter in the history of the sport.

Yeah, that´s why he was a 2-time champion and is one of the 4 hws with the best resume in the last 10 years - the others beeing Lewis, W. Klitschko and Byrd. :roll:

I'll most certainly give him all the credit for being a fighter and like every other professional boxer, having the guts to step into the squared circle for a liviing. He's just extremely painful to watch.

I agree with that also he was quite entertaining before Tua and against Valuev and Chagaev.

[heehoo]

ANY title fight that involves that holding, headbutting, no punch throwing fighter, John Ruiz, who's best fight was the Tua fight. It had the most action of all his fights in his entire career in my view.

[Loewe]

ANY title fight that involves that holding, headbutting, no punch throwing fighter, John Ruiz, who's best fight was the Tua fight. It had the most action of all his fights in his entire career in my view.

So you saw every single of his fights. Somehow I doubt you saw more than 3.

[ChrisPontius]

Ruiz is boring, but he does seem to get an unproportional amount of shit for it. Hopkins' recent fight with Calzaghe was way worse, where he was constantly holding, faking low blows to win time, etc. Given his age it is understandable of course, but to hear so many people describing that fight as "he was schooling Calzaghe" makes me laugh.

[heehoo]

So you saw every single of his fights. Somehow I doubt you saw more than 3.

I'm exaggerating, of course, but he does hold too much.

I have seen most of his fights.

He is probably the only fighter I truly dislike. Every fan has one fighter they truly dislike, and for me, that guy is Ruiz. I don't care what anybody says or feels, he is bad for boxing in my opinion. I apologize if you do not agree with me, but that is my opinion.

[heehoo]

Ruiz is boring

Exactly. The guy is hated mainly for that reason and I feel it's entirely justified.

[D-MAC]

wlad/sultan msg? anybody at all recall this? or do we all just want to forget the slap down by wlad?

:good

Surely there couldn't have been a worse one than that.

[round15]

Yeah, that´s why he was a 2-time champion and is one of the 4 hws with the best resume in the last 10 years - the others beeing Lewis, W. Klitschko and Byrd. :roll:



I agree with that also he was quite entertaining before Tua and against Valuev and Chagaev.

Yeah, a two time champion in the cluttered, messy, disorganized, ugly, alphabet boxing system that is the WBA, WBC, WBO and IBF.

I will say this though, he wins ugly, but he wins. I just don't find him entertaining and satisfying as a fighter.

[Loewe]

Yeah, a two time champion in the cluttered, messy, disorganized, ugly, alphabet boxing system that is the WBA, WBC, WBO and IBF.

I will say this though, he wins ugly, but he wins. I just don't find him entertaining and satisfying as a fighter.

You don´t have to but what you have to is to give the guy the respect he deserves. This is also directed to this heehoo guy.

[he grant]

Page / Tubbs

Page / Witherspoon

Tubbs / Witherspoon

Thomas / Witherspoon

Horrible title bouts ... all of them ...

[Titan1]

Big John Tate-Tony Tubbs.

[mistat94]

John Ruiz vs Buster Douglas

close and boring UD for Ruiz

[headers14]

klit vs. iggy

[LennoxGOAT]

Title bouts: Worst ones I have witnessed were TOS/Byrd and Barrett/Rock.

Akinwande/Lennox was more frustrating because Henry was so scared...I have some entertaining fights of his on dvd.

Wlad/Iggy sucked, but nowhere near as bad as the others because Wlad at least dominated it with his jab.

[El Borracho]

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I might have to go with John Ruiz .vs. Leon Spinks. Ultimatley Spinks might squeek out with the Win.

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[El Borracho]

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John Ruiz vs Buster Douglas

close and boring UD for Ruiz

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[Vantage_West]

Baer-Braddock was the worst fight I've ever seen.oh really wasnt it as exciting in the movie:think

[Vantage_West]

jimmy ellis - jerry quarry was a pretty dull fight.

surprising becuase looking back on it i would expect either a ellis clinic or a brutal quarry counter right hand followed by the left hook ko win for jerry.


just was quarry not going foreward and ellis circling.

[SteveO]

Not to be hating on John Ruiz, but what about John Ruiz v. Shannon Briggs? 2 HW that people hate the most in a horrible matchup.

Ruiz doing his jab and grab, while Briggs struggles to breathe and throws 3 punches a round.

[El Borracho]

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Not to be hating on John Ruiz, but what about John Ruiz v. Shannon Briggs? 2 HW that people hate the most in a horrible matchup.

Ruiz doing his jab and grab, while Briggs struggles to breathe and throws 3 punches a round.

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[Bigcat]

Tyson v Smith..

Morrison v Tomasheck

Hide v Reed

[heerko koois]

Leon Spinks vs Tony Tubbs.....the winner will meet John ruiz...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzz

[Ramon Rojo]

Braddock - Willard

[Mendoza]

Chris Byrd vs D Williamson aka TOS. Horrible fight. Neither person deserved a payday. Probably the worst title fight I ever saw, and must have seen 1000 of them.

Its not even an average sparring session.

[SteveO]

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Shannon Briggs ain't no David Tua.

[Rock0052]

Ruiz is boring, but he does seem to get an unproportional amount of shit for it. Hopkins' recent fight with Calzaghe was way worse, where he was constantly holding, faking low blows to win time, etc. Given his age it is understandable of course, but to hear so many people describing that fight as "he was schooling Calzaghe" makes me laugh.

Yeah, I don't see what was so controversial about it, unless people quit scoring after 3 rounds. Then somehow Calzaghe got called a runner in some threads. :lol:

As for the actual question, I think Byrd vs Jack Johnson ,even though they're obviously not the two worst HW champions, would've been real ugly. I'd have to put Brewster vs Frazier on the same card to make it up to viewers.

[The Kurgan]

From what I remember, Leon Spinks wasn't half as boring as people are making him out to be. A great boxer? No, but a good one with a high workrate and an aggressive come-forward style.

[prideofvbeach]

No, he sucks with some style in those Ali fights. He just has the worst career record of a HW champ. Worst HW title fight though had to be between two guys who should never have fought for a belt: Tony Tubbs and Tim Whiterspoon. Those guys weren't much, and kept right on showing how 2nd-tier they were right into their late 40s. The miracle have good records when a division is at a serious downturn (pre-Tyson, post-Ali). Given a fantasy match-up? Jess Willard vs. Tommy Burns

[Mendoza]

Baer-Braddock was the worst fight I've ever seen.

Byrd vs Williamson was the worst heavyweight title fight ( alphabet or linear ) I ever saw.

[bum of the week]

To use two boxers who weren't usually boring, how about Ingemar Johanssen vs. Jersey Joe Walcott? I'm not expecting much in the way of action there because their styles match up horribly. Johanssen didn't like to come forward and Jersey Joe Walcott was content to box and move against big hitters.

I think this is more in the spirit of the thread being about champs whose styles would make a for a boring fight, rather than about fighters who simply were boring per se(in that case Ruiz-Terell, or any fight involving Willard, would be hard to beat)
Patient counterpunchers versus boxers/defensive fighters just doesn't bring about great action. Schmeling-Sharkey II,and Charles-Walcott I and IV were reported to have been real sleeping-pills, as was Ellis vs Quarry.
As for Leon Spinks having been boring? Say what you want about Neon Leon but boring he was definiteily not.

[MRBILL]

1.) Louis-Roper
2.) Ali-Liston
3.) Weaver-Dokes 1
4.) Tyson-Seldon
5.) Foreman-Roman

This crap reaked hard.... Nuff said....:rofl

MR.BILL

P.S.

Tyson versus "Spinks and Carl Williams" was bad, as well..

[Bigcat]

I say it again..

The night WBO champ Tommy Morrison's opponent pulled out of the fight on the day of the fight. Mike Black hurculese Williams... and a Tim Tomasheck was pulled (beer in hand) out of the cheap seats and into a set of drawers to challenge for the world title.. (Commission please .... Hello where were the regulation people????) Tommy gave Timmy a spanking for the obscene time it lasted.. It should never have been allowed but it was .. The worst heavyweight championship fight................

[MRBILL]

I hate the "Mismatch / Blow-Outs" the most.....

[MRBILL]

I say it again..

The night WBO champ Tommy Morrison's opponent pulled out of the fight on the day of the fight. Mike Black hurculese Williams... and a Tim Tomasheck was pulled (beer in hand) out of the cheap seats and into a set of drawers to challenge for the world title.. (Commission please .... Hello where were the regulation people????) Tommy gave Timmy a spanking for the obscene time it lasted.. It should never have been allowed but it was .. The worst heavyweight championship fight................

Screw that chit. The WBO did NOT count until roughly the beginning of the 21st century.... Back in the 90's, the WBO was BOGUS!:|

MR.BILL

[Polymath]

Skelton/ Chag if you consider that to be a title fight.

[Russell]

I'd favor Ruiz over Briggs now that I think about it, actually.

[fists of fury]

wlad/sultan msg? anybody at all recall this? or do we all just want to forget the slap down by wlad?

The worst heavyweight title fight in recent memory. I was tearing my hair out watching that one.

[DamonD]

Byrd vs Williamson was the worst heavyweight title fight ( alphabet or linear ) I ever saw.
Surprised no-one else thought of this one.
When the ref is threatening both guys with disqualitication if they don't actually fight, you know you've got a stinker on your hands. It was absolutely diabolical.

I say it again..

The night WBO champ Tommy Morrison's opponent pulled out of the fight on the day of the fight. Mike Black hurculese Williams... and a Tim Tomasheck was pulled (beer in hand) out of the cheap seats and into a set of drawers to challenge for the world title.. (Commission please .... Hello where were the regulation people????) Tommy gave Timmy a spanking for the obscene time it lasted.. It should never have been allowed but it was .. The worst heavyweight championship fight................
Tomashek just wanted to goof around. He was all giddy about getting this tv time and wanted to play about. Morrison on the other hand was highly pissed off, and Tomashek's clowning really did not help matters as Tim stuck his tongue out and did Ali shuffles and so on. Since he just wanted to do that and survive as long as possible, he was able to keep tying Tommy up and blocking his stuff. Tommy wanted to look good making his first WBO defence in front of a packed home crowd. Tim just wanted to play the fool.

Wouldn't have wanted to be a fly on the wall of Morrison's locker room after that 'fight'...

[The Kurgan]

I think this is more in the spirit of the thread being about champs whose styles would make a for a boring fight, rather than about fighters who simply were boring per se(in that case Ruiz-Terell, or any fight involving Willard, would be hard to beat)
Patient counterpunchers versus boxers/defensive fighters just doesn't bring about great action. Schmeling-Sharkey II,and Charles-Walcott I and IV were reported to have been real sleeping-pills, as was Ellis vs Quarry.

Cheers. Ingo and Walcott were certainly very good boxers, but neither was the most aggressive man of their era, to put it mildly.

I've always thought that if Roy Jones and Chris Eubank had met it would be a stinker. Roy would probably be much too cautious of Eubank's power and Eubank would be too lazy to go looking for Jones. Again, good boxers; terrible match-up.

Henry Akinwande vs. Ernie Terrell could break clinching records. Both could be at least interesting, IF they had space to work.

As for Leon Spinks having been boring? Say what you want about Neon Leon but boring he was definiteily not.

Agreed. Leon had a good workrate and loved to fight; his first fight with Ali is very underrated (especially if you add in the drama that Spinks had an injured rib and fought the last few rounds in unimaginable agony) while his war with Qawi was a definite FOTY candidate. His fight with Ledoux is also supposed to have been a FOTY candidate; amazing considering Ledoux was often a safety-first boxer.

[red cobra]

leon spinks would ...and i repeat WOULD kick the bloody piss out of ruiz ...
Ruiz would hug and grab Spinks just like an aged Muhammad Ali did and win a horribly dull, miserable 15 round decision. Think about it, that's exactly how Ali regained the title from Leon, and all it involved was jabbing and grabbing ALOT. Now that's Ruiz' greatest skill and attribute, to hug and grab. Scott LeDoux actually earned a draw that could have gone his way really, by doing plenty of grabbing and holding. That's the way Leon could be beaten, unless you were Gerrie Coetzee or Larry Holmes and could blast him out. Sorry, hate to disagree with you but the Ruiz curse would come to the fore in this one, and he'd be booed after the decision was announced with his glove raised in victory over the toothless one.

[PaddyD1983]

I'm watching Akiwande/Lennox right now. :-(

That was a piss poor fight! Remind me though, was Lewis champion at the time? Cant remember the year that fight was

[Longhhorn71]

A proposed Valuev vs Tommy Burns fight would be a sideshow.

Seven foot Russian Giant vs 5' 7" "Little Giant of Hanover".

Tommy takes Valuev into the 20th round, but loses by TKO as the Ruskie collapses from exhaustion on top of him.

[Ramon Rojo]

Havrn't sen Marvin Hart vs Tommy Burns, but i suspect that it sucked.