BoxRec

According to Paddy Power UK, they’ve issued the following betting odds for the Parker-Ruiz Jr. bout:

• Joseph Parker = 80% chance to win (1/4)
• Andy Ruiz Jr. = 27% chance to win (11/4)
• Draw = 4% (25/1)

I personally believe that these fairly wide odds fail to reflect the true potential competitive nature of this bout, so it may be worth a punt on Ruiz Jr, because there’s an outside chance you’d receive some decent money if the Mexican manages to score an upset (especially considering the sparring rumours, Andy’s weight loss, being trained by Abel Sanchez and GGG).

"Parker runs into Ruiz in Vegas, when they met by chance at the recent Manny Pacquiao v Jesse Vargas fight"

Enlightened-One wrote:The one advantage the Mexican chubster holds over Parker is his superior experience, such as: his 105-5 amateur record (compared to Parker’s 27-8); he has been a pro since 2009 (compared to Parker’s 2012); competed in 29 pro fights (compared to Parker’s 21); and the Mexican has also sparred against the likes of Evander Holyfield and Chris Arreola.

Hopefully someone who knows more about the amateur game can confirm but I'd argue that the records are a little misleading - Parker went to quite a few of the bigger international tournaments (Youth Worlds, Youth Olympics, Commonwealth Games, Worlds) and fought (lost to) Yoka, Zhang and Hrgovic and other decent international quality amateurs. Ruiz's glossier and beefier record so far as I can tell was compiled against fellow husky Mexicans almost exclusively.

Might be that it is better to just have a lot of fights when you are starting out and finding your identity rather than getting chucked in the deep end almost straight away, I dunno. Worth mentioning anyway.

Ruiz underated, expect Parker to get flattened.

Enlightened-One wrote:According to Paddy Power UK, they’ve issued the following betting odds for the Parker-Ruiz Jr. bout:

• Joseph Parker = 80% chance to win (1/4)
• Andy Ruiz Jr. = 27% chance to win (11/4)
• Draw = 4% (25/1)

I personally believe that these fairly wide odds fail to reflect the true potential competitive nature of this bout, so it may be worth a punt on Ruiz Jr, because there’s an outside chance you’d receive some decent money if the Mexican manages to score an upset (especially considering the sparring rumours, Andy’s weight loss, being trained by Abel Sanchez and GGG).

"Parker runs into Ruiz in Vegas, when they met by chance at the recent Manny Pacquiao v Jesse Vargas fight"

I'm not sure if this picture is distorted or Ruiz's head is the size of a Lightweight's... Maybe Parker has a monster head... One thing you don't want to see on a heavyweight is a tiny head... James Toney and Carlos Monzon were Middleweights with heads the size of a Heavyweight's -- that works to your advantage.. I saw some of Ruiz's fights and didn't get the impression his head was this small.. It seems like he takes a pretty fair shot actually -- but I'd be gunning for a KO anyway if I were Parker because Ruiz'll be coming after Parker like Frazier after Foreman.. Frazier had the reputation for having a great chin but he never fought a puncher before he faced Foreman.. Now the same is true with Ruiz -- I don't see anyone Andy fought who can hit real good and Parker can punch.. Elijah McCall has some real power, but he's the world's worst boxer so he couldn't use his power on Ruiz... I LOL when I heard McCall was fighting Ruiz.. You don't go from fighting 2nd raters to a killer who can tear your head off. That's the Marvis Frazier strategy.

I actually was thinking when it was being negotiated that Ruiz-Parker was a pretty even fight.. I actually think Ruiz is a better boxer than Parker for sure... But is this going to be like Frazier-Foreman and be a size and strength mismatch??? I don't like the head sizes but I still don't think it's a mismatch... I'd probably bet on Ruiz if this fight were in Oakland instead of Auckland., I saw the Takam fight an he was robbed.

Rob3_142 wrote:Wow - he looks almost like a completely new person. In the long run this will only go on to serve him well in every possible way.

In the short run, are there a number of unknown variables going into this fight? Will Ruiz Jr lose any power from this weight loss? Will he lose the ability to man handle his opponent with the sheer body weight? My mind tells me that this is only good, but I do wonder if there are any negative impacts.

The other thing that can be effected is punch resistance.

Ruiz has lost more than 20 kg since training with Sanchez.

Ruiz is expecting to weight at about 111 kg. Having previously fought at more than 140 kg.

Kalan wrote:I'm not sure if this picture is distorted or Ruiz's head is the size of a Lightweight's... Maybe Parker has a monster head... One thing you don't want to see on a heavyweight is a tiny head... James Toney and Carlos Monzon were Middleweights with heads the size of a Heavyweight's -- that works to your advantage.. I saw some of Ruiz's fights and didn't get the impression his head was this small.. It seems like he takes a pretty fair shot actually -- but I'd be gunning for a KO anyway if I were Parker because Ruiz'll be coming after Parker like Frazier after Foreman.. Frazier had the reputation for having a great chin but he never fought a puncher before he faced Foreman.. Now the same is true with Ruiz -- I don't see anyone Andy fought who can hit real good and Parker can punch.. Elijah McCall has some real power, but he's the world's worst boxer so he couldn't use his power on Ruiz... I LOL when I heard McCall was fighting Ruiz.. You don't go from fighting 2nd raters to a killer who can tear your head off. That's the Marvis Frazier strategy.

I actually was thinking when it was being negotiated that Ruiz-Parker was a pretty even fight.. I actually think Ruiz is a better boxer than Parker for sure... But is this going to be like Frazier-Foreman and be a size and strength mismatch??? I don't like the head sizes but I still don't think it's a mismatch... I'd probably bet on Ruiz if this fight were in Oakland instead of Auckland., I saw the Takam fight an he was robbed.

Takam was most certainly not robbed. It was a wide Parker victory.

Rob3_142 wrote:

Kalan wrote:I'm not sure if this picture is distorted or Ruiz's head is the size of a Lightweight's... Maybe Parker has a monster head... One thing you don't want to see on a heavyweight is a tiny head... James Toney and Carlos Monzon were Middleweights with heads the size of a Heavyweight's -- that works to your advantage.. I saw some of Ruiz's fights and didn't get the impression his head was this small.. It seems like he takes a pretty fair shot actually -- but I'd be gunning for a KO anyway if I were Parker because Ruiz'll be coming after Parker like Frazier after Foreman.. Frazier had the reputation for having a great chin but he never fought a puncher before he faced Foreman.. Now the same is true with Ruiz -- I don't see anyone Andy fought who can hit real good and Parker can punch.. Elijah McCall has some real power, but he's the world's worst boxer so he couldn't use his power on Ruiz... I LOL when I heard McCall was fighting Ruiz.. You don't go from fighting 2nd raters to a killer who can tear your head off. That's the Marvis Frazier strategy.

I actually was thinking when it was being negotiated that Ruiz-Parker was a pretty even fight.. I actually think Ruiz is a better boxer than Parker for sure... But is this going to be like Frazier-Foreman and be a size and strength mismatch??? I don't like the head sizes but I still don't think it's a mismatch... I'd probably bet on Ruiz if this fight were in Oakland instead of Auckland., I saw the Takam fight an he was robbed.

Takam was most certainly not robbed. It was a wide Parker victory.

You're both wrong - I'm a Parker fan and I watched the fight on a live (though choppy) stream and had it 7-4-1 (116-113) to Parker. I think the official scorecards were fair, though it was more of a split decision kind of fight, the right man got the decision.

jezzamundo wrote:

Rob3_142 wrote:

Kalan wrote:I'm not sure if this picture is distorted or Ruiz's head is the size of a Lightweight's... Maybe Parker has a monster head... One thing you don't want to see on a heavyweight is a tiny head... James Toney and Carlos Monzon were Middleweights with heads the size of a Heavyweight's -- that works to your advantage.. I saw some of Ruiz's fights and didn't get the impression his head was this small.. It seems like he takes a pretty fair shot actually -- but I'd be gunning for a KO anyway if I were Parker because Ruiz'll be coming after Parker like Frazier after Foreman.. Frazier had the reputation for having a great chin but he never fought a puncher before he faced Foreman.. Now the same is true with Ruiz -- I don't see anyone Andy fought who can hit real good and Parker can punch.. Elijah McCall has some real power, but he's the world's worst boxer so he couldn't use his power on Ruiz... I LOL when I heard McCall was fighting Ruiz.. You don't go from fighting 2nd raters to a killer who can tear your head off. That's the Marvis Frazier strategy.

I actually was thinking when it was being negotiated that Ruiz-Parker was a pretty even fight.. I actually think Ruiz is a better boxer than Parker for sure... But is this going to be like Frazier-Foreman and be a size and strength mismatch??? I don't like the head sizes but I still don't think it's a mismatch... I'd probably bet on Ruiz if this fight were in Oakland instead of Auckland., I saw the Takam fight an he was robbed.

Takam was most certainly not robbed. It was a wide Parker victory.

You're both wrong - I'm a Parker fan and I watched the fight on a live (though choppy) stream and had it 7-4-1 (116-113) to Parker. I think the official scorecards were fair, though it was more of a split decision kind of fight, the right man got the decision.

Actually I stand corrected, it wasn't a wide victory, I just had it down as a comfortable Parker victory. I thought (for once) that the scorecards were pretty much bang on.

Parker went through the gears but gassed in the mid rounds, and Takam came at him, but failed to capitalise and took his foot off the pedal. He could have won, but for some reason he stopped.

Parker v Ruiz Jr is exclusively live on allegedly (Sky/Freeview/Virgin/TalkTalk/EE/Apple TV/Online & App).

http://www.BS.com/joseph-parke ... on--110865?

This is really good match. One of the best in heavy this year.

It will be interesting to see who has the speed advantage on this one. Ruiz is good at beating opponents on the punch. That way he has dominated some pretty decent fighters. I Parker can't match the speed on the inside he will be in some trouble.

Parker does throws some pretty good uppercuts. Those could be one way to find and beat the smaller Ruiz.

Parker has the edge on physical gifts but Ruiz is the more skilled boxer. Will be interesting to see how this one unfolds.

I see this as 60 to 40 kind of match for Parker. He might be too strong and fast for Ruiz to handle. Ruiz is still definitely live underdog in this fight.

Andy ruiz no chance to win.

What decent fighters has Ruiz dominated?

It will be interesting to see what Ruiz tips the scales at on Friday.

This is how he looked arriving in New Zealand in the past day or so :

Joseph Parker's thoughts pre-fight :

"The way this opportunity has evolved, to have the fight in New Zealand, it just adds to that feeling that this is something that's meant to happen."

"I stood in the middle of Vector Arena the other day and I looked around, I absorbed the space and the volume of the place. I imagined it with 10,000 fans packed in. It's going to be amazing. Having the support of everyone there is going to lift me and give me an extra boost.

"I'm ready to fulfill my destiny. I'm ready to fulfill my grandfather's prophecy."

Did Ruiz change his whole team, or just the chief trainer?

Like a Boss wrote:It will be interesting to see what Ruiz tips the scales at on Friday.

This is how he looked arriving in New Zealand in the past day or so :

Man he looks pretty tiny!

Interesting thing I just noticed is that Box Rec has only made this a 3 star fight, while Joshua Molina is a 4 star. Thought they would be at least even.

Rob3_142 wrote:

Like a Boss wrote:It will be interesting to see what Ruiz tips the scales at on Friday.

This is how he looked arriving in New Zealand in the past day or so :

Man he looks pretty tiny!

Interesting thing I just noticed is that Box Rec has only made this a 3 star fight, while Joshua Molina is a 4 star. Thought they would be at least even.

This will be a much more competitive bout that the Joshua-Molina mismatch.

I read Andy Ruiz was in negotiations to be trained by Kevin Barry, Joseph Parker's trainer, back in 2012.

"I had a meeting with Andy's manager, he liked my approach and everything. We negotiated a fee to train him, more or less on a weekly basis" - said Kevin Barry.

Around the same time though Barry received call from Duco Events about the prospect of training a raw but promising Kiwi-Samoan fighter, who had won his first four fights. Barry liked what he saw in Joseph Parker, and the rest is history.

Don't write off Ruiz , this is closer than many think.

Just been suckered into a media narrative that it's a for gone conclusion Parker win . It's not.

T w_savage wrote:Don't write off Ruiz , this is closer than many think.

Just been suckered into a media narrative that it's a for gone conclusion Parker win . It's not.

Kalan wrote:

Enlightened-One wrote:According to Paddy Power UK, they’ve issued the following betting odds for the Parker-Ruiz Jr. bout:

• Joseph Parker = 80% chance to win (1/4)
• Andy Ruiz Jr. = 27% chance to win (11/4)
• Draw = 4% (25/1)

I personally believe that these fairly wide odds fail to reflect the true potential competitive nature of this bout, so it may be worth a punt on Ruiz Jr, because there’s an outside chance you’d receive some decent money if the Mexican manages to score an upset (especially considering the sparring rumours, Andy’s weight loss, being trained by Abel Sanchez and GGG).

"Parker runs into Ruiz in Vegas, when they met by chance at the recent Manny Pacquiao v Jesse Vargas fight"

I'm not sure if this picture is distorted or Ruiz's head is the size of a Lightweight's... Maybe Parker has a monster head... One thing you don't want to see on a heavyweight is a tiny head... James Toney and Carlos Monzon were Middleweights with heads the size of a Heavyweight's -- that works to your advantage.. I saw some of Ruiz's fights and didn't get the impression his head was this small.. It seems like he takes a pretty fair shot actually -- but I'd be gunning for a KO anyway if I were Parker because Ruiz'll be coming after Parker like Frazier after Foreman.. Frazier had the reputation for having a great chin but he never fought a puncher before he faced Foreman.. Now the same is true with Ruiz -- I don't see anyone Andy fought who can hit real good and Parker can punch.. Elijah McCall has some real power, but he's the world's worst boxer so he couldn't use his power on Ruiz... I LOL when I heard McCall was fighting Ruiz.. You don't go from fighting 2nd raters to a killer who can tear your head off. That's the Marvis Frazier strategy.

I actually was thinking when it was being negotiated that Ruiz-Parker was a pretty even fight.. I actually think Ruiz is a better boxer than Parker for sure... But is this going to be like Frazier-Foreman and be a size and strength mismatch??? I don't like the head sizes but I still don't think it's a mismatch... I'd probably bet on Ruiz if this fight were in Oakland instead of Auckland., I saw the Takam fight an he was robbed.

A few freinds of mine scored the fight to takam too! I did not but your not crazy, it's a fair shout.

T w_savage wrote:

Kalan wrote:

Enlightened-One wrote:According to Paddy Power UK, they’ve issued the following betting odds for the Parker-Ruiz Jr. bout:

• Joseph Parker = 80% chance to win (1/4)
• Andy Ruiz Jr. = 27% chance to win (11/4)
• Draw = 4% (25/1)

I personally believe that these fairly wide odds fail to reflect the true potential competitive nature of this bout, so it may be worth a punt on Ruiz Jr, because there’s an outside chance you’d receive some decent money if the Mexican manages to score an upset (especially considering the sparring rumours, Andy’s weight loss, being trained by Abel Sanchez and GGG).

"Parker runs into Ruiz in Vegas, when they met by chance at the recent Manny Pacquiao v Jesse Vargas fight"

I'm not sure if this picture is distorted or Ruiz's head is the size of a Lightweight's... Maybe Parker has a monster head... One thing you don't want to see on a heavyweight is a tiny head... James Toney and Carlos Monzon were Middleweights with heads the size of a Heavyweight's -- that works to your advantage.. I saw some of Ruiz's fights and didn't get the impression his head was this small.. It seems like he takes a pretty fair shot actually -- but I'd be gunning for a KO anyway if I were Parker because Ruiz'll be coming after Parker like Frazier after Foreman.. Frazier had the reputation for having a great chin but he never fought a puncher before he faced Foreman.. Now the same is true with Ruiz -- I don't see anyone Andy fought who can hit real good and Parker can punch.. Elijah McCall has some real power, but he's the world's worst boxer so he couldn't use his power on Ruiz... I LOL when I heard McCall was fighting Ruiz.. You don't go from fighting 2nd raters to a killer who can tear your head off. That's the Marvis Frazier strategy.

I actually was thinking when it was being negotiated that Ruiz-Parker was a pretty even fight.. I actually think Ruiz is a better boxer than Parker for sure... But is this going to be like Frazier-Foreman and be a size and strength mismatch??? I don't like the head sizes but I still don't think it's a mismatch... I'd probably bet on Ruiz if this fight were in Oakland instead of Auckland., I saw the Takam fight an he was robbed.

A few freinds of mine scored the fight to takam too! I did not but your not crazy, it's a fair shout.

I don't understand how so many people had Takam winning that fight. It wasn't like Parker won by 10+ rounds, but definitely clear by 2-3 rounds. I always felt he was in complete control, and when Takam was finding any kind of momentum, he'd take his foot off the gas.

I mean the volume of people that think Takam won the fight makes me question my judgement, or maybe that's just people gunning for the underdog?

Rob3_142 wrote:
I don't understand how so many people had Takam winning that fight. It wasn't like Parker won by 10+ rounds, but definitely clear by 2-3 rounds. I always felt he was in complete control, and when Takam was finding any kind of momentum, he'd take his foot off the gas.

I mean the volume of people that think Takam won the fight makes me question my judgement, or maybe that's just people gunning for the underdog?

Two things to consider :

1/ Fights are hard to score. That's why even the qualified judges entrusted with scoring a fight rarely manage to agree on who won particular rounds, let alone who won the fight.

2/ When you are watching a fighter you really hope wins it is even harder to score a fight.

Like a Boss wrote:

Rob3_142 wrote:
I don't understand how so many people had Takam winning that fight. It wasn't like Parker won by 10+ rounds, but definitely clear by 2-3 rounds. I always felt he was in complete control, and when Takam was finding any kind of momentum, he'd take his foot off the gas.

I mean the volume of people that think Takam won the fight makes me question my judgement, or maybe that's just people gunning for the underdog?

Two things to consider :

1/ Fights are hard to score. That's why even the qualified judges entrusted with scoring a fight rarely manage to agree on who won particular rounds, let alone who won the fight.

2/ When you are watching a fighter you really hope wins it is even harder to score a fight.

Can't argue. Is subjective scoring becoming a little outdated and unreliable? It seems that more and more recently that we're talking about suspect scoring. Do the judges need to start justifying their scorecards? Do we need to remove them from the side of the ring where crowds can act as a swaying factor to 50:50 rounds?

Like a Boss wrote:

Rob3_142 wrote:
I don't understand how so many people had Takam winning that fight. It wasn't like Parker won by 10+ rounds, but definitely clear by 2-3 rounds. I always felt he was in complete control, and when Takam was finding any kind of momentum, he'd take his foot off the gas.

I mean the volume of people that think Takam won the fight makes me question my judgement, or maybe that's just people gunning for the underdog?

Two things to consider :

1/ Fights are hard to score. That's why even the qualified judges entrusted with scoring a fight rarely manage to agree on who won particular rounds, let alone who won the fight.

2/ When you are watching a fighter you really hope wins it is even harder to score a fight.

Agree on both points. Especially the first one. Have you ever sat and read through how a fight is supposed to be scored? There's a good link HERE

The "clean punching" bit is obvious but the other three could be taken either way in a close fight.