Antonio Tarver vs John Ruiz

[gilgamesh]

I was thinking of this one the other day thumbing through one of my old Ring Mag's and seeing pictures of Roy fighting John Ruiz.

What if: Roy after beating John Ruiz doesn't come back to Light Heavy and stays at Heavy. Tarver chases him up to Heavy and in an effort to make a statement that he's just as good as Roy, he fights John Ruiz. So this would be in late 2003 or mid 2004. What happens?

[gilgamesh]

I think John Ruiz makes it an ugly fight, like he did with most of his opponents, and Tarver doesn't have the footspeed and legs to move around Ruiz the way Roy did. John hugs and mugs his way to a 116-112 decision victory...wouldn't be the most shocking thing if he dropped Tarver with one of those overhand rights. Tarver would be trying to catch Ruiz with straight lefts on the way in, and he'd do it sometimes, but he wouldn't have the power at Heavyweight to drop Ruiz. He'd win a few rounds when he upped the aggression, but Ruiz would win most rounds by forcing Tarver to fight his fight.

[MEISINGER]

ruiz was boring as hell
but effective...he wins a snooze fest over tarver

[misterpunch]

i'm sorry, no disrespect, but any thread that includes the words "john ruiz" automatically gets the from me

[gilgamesh]

i'm sorry, no disrespect, but any thread that includes the words "john ruiz" automatically gets the from me

I don't blame you, this certainly wouldn't have been an exciting fight. The thought of it just intrigued me for whatever reason.

[HomicideHenry]

Good old John Ruiz, you could set it to the watch, every ten seconds there was a clinch. However, he was tough, took a good punch, and while not having good hand speed he did have a very sneaky right. Willing to face anyone. Can't say that for most guys. Whether anyone likes it or not he is indeed a 2x heavyweight champion. As for this hypothetical, I dont know whether Tarver would of had the conditioning, speed, or punch to of discouraged Ruiz the way Toney, Jones and Haye did. I think Ruiz could beat Tarver, but its one of those 50/50-60/40 propositions that are hard to call.

[Rover]

i'm sorry, no disrespect, but any thread that includes the words "john ruiz" automatically gets the from me

[Rover]

I think John Ruiz makes it an ugly fight, like he did with most of his opponents, and Tarver doesn't have the footspeed and legs to move around Ruiz the way Roy did. John hugs and mugs his way to a 116-112 decision victory...wouldn't be the most shocking thing if he dropped Tarver with one of those overhand rights. Tarver would be trying to catch Ruiz with straight lefts on the way in, and he'd do it sometimes, but he wouldn't have the power at Heavyweight to drop Ruiz. He'd win a few rounds when he upped the aggression, but Ruiz would win most rounds by forcing Tarver to fight his fight.

Agreed.

[IRLangmaid25]

ruiz was boring as hell
but effective...he wins a snooze fest over tarver

And he was tough as hell as he took an utter shallacking for 9 rounds against David Haye before he was pulled out by his corner... As for this one and for that I give him a fair chance against Tarver at Heavyweight but Tarver has too much guile..

[Rover]

ruiz was boring as hell
but effective...he wins a snooze fest over tarver

And he was tough as hell as he took an utter shallacking for 9 rounds against David Haye before he was pulled out by his corner... As for this one and for that I give him a fair chance against Tarver at Heavyweight but Tarver has too much guile..

Just goes to show how destructive Tua could be.

[IRLangmaid25]

ruiz was boring as hell
but effective...he wins a snooze fest over tarver

And he was tough as hell as he took an utter shallacking for 9 rounds against David Haye before he was pulled out by his corner... As for this one and for that I give him a fair chance against Tarver at Heavyweight but Tarver has too much guile..

Just goes to show how destructive Tua could be.

Aye it does... Tua was an utter animal in the ring unless he was facing a bloke who had a good jab...