Is boxing the only sport that .....

[rd350lc]

Darts.

Exactly what I was going to say, and add that the one time Sky tried putting it on PPV, one of the was so out of shape it ended early when he collapsed.

Ted hankey ??

[Grilling Machine]

If we started naming possibles we'd be here all day!

I've just remembered Bruno-Witherspoon, a rare example of the reverse outcome. Foreman-Moorer...

[ShadrachSimmo]

Darts.

Exactly what I was going to say, and add that the one time Sky tried putting it on PPV, one of the was so out of shape it ended early when he collapsed.

I recall a match with Ted “The Count” Hankey I’m sure when he had a stint with the PDC where he suffered a mini stroke during the match. And people thought he was drunk...

Proper athletes....

[milpool]

Exactly what I was going to say, and add that the one time Sky tried putting it on PPV, one of the was so out of shape it ended early when he collapsed.

Ted hankey ??

No, it was Andy Fordham in a champion v champion match against Phil Taylor at the Circus Tavern.

[skanksta]

Close your eyes and try and imagine Thierry Henry fat and out of shape - you just can’t do it !

Ruiz touting a rematch was cringe - no !

[lillywhite14]

Has its top professionals turn up out of shape?

Ruiz last night was basically a disgrace, he has even blamed too much partying. In any other sport do the top guys regularly turn up out of shape?
People pay top dollar and expect to see someone perform, in tennis if Federer or Nadal turned up fat and blamed partying then they would be fined , and risk a ban.
Fat professionalfootballers are a thing of the past, rugby you'd expect even the big lads to be in shape.

Last night we had Whyte way out of shape, Molina out of shape, and Ruiz on the biggest stage saying he couldn't throw combinations because he was too fat, he should be fined and banned

Ruiz just using a poor excuse. He could be 30 lbs lighter but fact is, his footwork has never been good enough to beat Joshua in that sort of fight. Combinations wasn’t his problem at all, closing the gap was. No point throwing combinations when their miles out of distance! Just hot air. He turned up with an excuse...

Still, he has had one more title defence than Fury I guess! Granted it was unsuccessful but still

[dbf]

Ruiz was terrible both his shape and his perofrmance but I must say it is fairly impressive for a man of that size to comfortably go 12 rounds with AJ. How he can be that overweight and somewhat fit is incredible.

[Matt W]

I tipped Ruiz to repeat until the weigh in. A complete disgrace coming in in that state. I agree that there should be some way of imposing financial penalties in cases like this. £25 to watch someone getting paid millions who can't even be arsed to train. Takes the piss.

[Stuarty]

I tipped Ruiz to repeat until the weigh in. A complete disgrace coming in in that state. I agree that there should be some way of imposing financial penalties in cases like this. £25 to watch someone getting paid millions who can't even be arsed to train. Takes the piss.

Couldn't agree more! It's a joke and i'm glad i didn't buy it!

[Matt W]

Re: darts. Andy Fordham can't even remember winning the world darts title (well, BDO anyway) because he was sh1tfaced. Now THAT is a sportsman. Any other sports where you could win the world title when off your face?

[rd350lc]

Ted hankey ??

No, it was Andy Fordham in a champion v champion match against Phil Taylor at the Circus Tavern.

He was a big lad , was the Viking .
Didn't Hankey fall ill during a match years ago ?

[milpool]

No, it was Andy Fordham in a champion v champion match against Phil Taylor at the Circus Tavern.

He was a big lad , was the Viking .
Didn't Hankey fall ill during a match years ago ?

He did...at the 2012 Grand Slam of Darts in a match against Michael van Gerwen.

[milpool]

Re: darts. Andy Fordham can't even remember winning the world darts title (well, BDO anyway) because he was sh1tfaced. Now THAT is a sportsman. Any other sports where you could win the world title when off your face?

At the risk of turning this into a darts thread, in fairness to The Viking the year he won the BDO world championship it also saw the likes of Barney, James Wade, Gary Anderson, Merv King and, another fatty, Stephen Bunting compete at the Lakeside.

Still, none of this excuses Andy Ruiz looking like a sumo wrestler!

[coneye]

Has far as i'm concerned anyone silly enoug to buy that ppv , in fact any ppv , desrves to get there arse smacked for 25 quid 50 dollars or whatever the case , , I pay a premium for sky and expect there sports channel to supply the ppv fights free , They don't so i unsuscribed to there sports channel and stream simple ,, if they start showing boxing for free i'll subcribe again , If ts one i really don't want to miss , i will not chance a stream and go to the pub to watch . .

You all want to give some fat guy millions so he can buy a rolls royce and feed his face with taco's be my guest , but i'm not contributing , hav'nt done for a few years now ,

[Nightmare Roy]

Darts isn’t a sport, it’s a game, most of the players are fatties and that’s fine as it doesn’t affect their performance, what Ruiz did was a discgrace, what a let down

[Ezzard]

Has its top professionals turn up out of shape?

Ruiz last night was basically a disgrace, he has even blamed too much partying. In any other sport do the top guys regularly turn up out of shape?
People pay top dollar and expect to see someone perform, in tennis if Federer or Nadal turned up fat and blamed partying then they would be fined , and risk a ban.
Fat professionalfootballers are a thing of the past, rugby you'd expect even the big lads to be in shape.

Last night we had Whyte way out of shape, Molina out of shape, and Ruiz on the biggest stage saying he couldn't throw combinations because he was too fat, he should be fined and banned

I think I agree. But the problem is that you can turn up out of shape and still win like Ruiz did in the first fight.

[Dixonian]

I actually love this aspect of boxing. That a guy can turn up fat and out of shape for a world title fight. Adds to the unpredictability of boxing. Much prefer the craziness that is boxing where bizarre, controversial and baffling things occur all the time, rather than the slick professionalism of football and other top tier sports.

Sure, Ruiz blew it. But you know what, he had a major life changing event and we probably don't understand how that's turned his head. No doubt he's got far more close friends and family members tan ever before, the media are probably all over him in Mexico. Nobody knows how they'll respond to that kind of change. He lost his focus. It happens. And it's not his fault people stumped up the cash to watch his fight with AJ. How you spend your money is your responsibility.

I just hope he listens to his dad and gets back in the gym straight away. Weighing a stone and a half lighter and he'll be a major test for any other heavyweight (apart from Fury).

[margaret thatcher]

You get fat baseballers and us footballers too, though I guess they are in shape enough for their sports