Oh mind you I believe Tyson Fury would easily win it.The Gratest wrote: ↑24 Mar 2023, 06:22 It isn't a contest of mandatories though Henry, and stylistically, I wouldn't rank a 6ft 9" Fury slobbing his weight down on top of stumpy Andy jr for 12 rounds as a great win. Even a flawed Joshua managed to easily keep Ruiz at bay (albeit, an overweight version) for 12 rounds, so someone with even greater height, weight, reach and boxing IQ like Fury would do so for an easy UD.
I think Ruiz jr is tailor-made for Fury, despite the wins and names he has on his record.
But that's not a reason to diminish the match-up.
First, it's pretty self evident that both Fury and Usyk are worlds apart from everyone else in the division so its to be expected the fights to be relatively easy.
Second, as stated earlier Ruiz was unified champion which basically threw the title away by coming in excessively heavy but since then seems more committed to the sport getting wins over Arreola and Ortiz. So it would be a good legacy fight by eliminating one more title holder from his own era.
Third, it makes sense since Wilder's priced himself out against Ruiz and now that undisputed is gone (for now) that the only man left to fight with any real credibility is Ruiz because Joyce is tied up with Zhang and Joshua with Franklin, etc.
Fourth, if Fury was able to TKO or KO Ruiz it would be a great selling point for a future Joshua fight. "I knocked out the man you (Joshua) couldn't," or, "I defeated the man who beat Joshua so what makes Usyk so special?"
Fifth, let's be honest Fury needs more rounds and needs activity. Dereck Chisora was never proper preparation for Joshua let alone Usyk. But Ruiz? He's got a thick beard, despite his appearance he's got a good engine, and he's got fast and heavy hands. He'll go several rounds with Fury. He'll knock off the rust.
Let's be honest here, Ruiz is a bigger and better scalp than Dubois and Hrgovic. No offense to Hrgovic but nobody really knows him and in his last outing he did not look all that good. Usyk and Fury could beat both men in the same night. It's all about the optics though, and Ruiz definitely is more credible than Dubois and Hrgovic. Fury can easily say afterwards, "Hey I took on a tougher fight than Usyk. Usyk chose to bail on negotiations for Dubois instead."
Team Fury know that they have to try to fix their image. They overplayed their hand, and have went from being the most popular boxer arguably in the sport to being the most disliked. I'm sure that sentiment is not going to completely go away until Fury fights Usyk but in the interim he has to take on credible opponents.
No more soft touches until he's earned it. Ruiz would be a step in the right direction and good preparation for a showdown with Joshua which would in turn be good preparation for a showdown with Usyk.
