BoxRec

Why did he change his style?

In the early part of his career Razor Ruddock used to be a great 'boxer' with a good jab, speed & movement.

One day, almost out of the blue, he became one dimensional slugger almost entirely reliant on his signature punch.

Razor proved against Tyson that he had a huge heart & had be boxed, rather than standing in front of the equally one dimensional Tyson, he could have beaten the 1991 Tyson fairly comfortably IMO.

Like a number of fighters who discover they can punch, the guy fell in love with his own power and felt he could eventually get anyone out with his left 'Smash' . . that also allowed him to fight more 'lazy' fights in which he neglected the left jab and didn't move around much like he did in his earlier days.

Funny that early in his career he was considered a relatively light hitter.

According to an old Boxing Monthly in 1990 he discovered his signature 'smash' in his bout with John Westgarth in England (KO7, 1986).

That being said, on the tape of his fight with Mike Weaver two months later he was still very much a boxer but perhaps it was Weaver's deadly power that kept him on the defensive? Weaver nearly decapitated him in the 3rd.

He looked more of a puncher on the Spinks/Cooney undercard vs Carlos Hernadez in 87 but won that on a DQ, and really it was 1988 vs the massive and very durable Larry Alexander that the power punching Razor Ruddock we all know & love suddenly appeared. He was firing the left like it was a newfound rifle and completely splattered Alexander in horrific fashion.

From that point on it was all power and it made for some spectacular performances vs Bonecrusher Smith, Reggie Gross, Mike Dokes and Mike Tyson twice. In other eras Ruddock is a heavyweight champion surely!

fantastic thread you guys really know your stuff.
As a pure physical specimin, Razor was something just a shame he came around in an era of other great athletes and specimins in the HW division.....and that he took on all the dangermen head on in his prime with little focus and peace out of the ring or a decent trainer....he could have been so much more....as it is what he was was something very special.... the ruddock that lost to lewis and morrison wasnt even 25% of what he had been against Tyson.....Tyson ruined him.....and he (and prison) ruined Tyson

loaded_gloves wrote:According to an old Boxing Monthly in 1990 he discovered his signature 'smash' in his bout with John Westgarth in England (KO7, 1986).

That being said, on the tape of his fight with Mike Weaver two months later he was still very much a boxer but perhaps it was Weaver's deadly power that kept him on the defensive? Weaver nearly decapitated him in the 3rd.

He looked more of a puncher on the Spinks/Cooney undercard vs Carlos Hernadez in 87 but won that on a DQ, and really it was 1988 vs the massive and very durable Larry Alexander that the power punching Razor Ruddock we all know & love suddenly appeared. He was firing the left like it was a newfound rifle and completely splattered Alexander in horrific fashion.

From that point on it was all power and it made for some spectacular performances vs Bonecrusher Smith, Reggie Gross, Mike Dokes and Mike Tyson twice. In other eras Ruddock is a heavyweight champion surely!

Very much disagree (unless by 'champion' you mean could've helt a paper title sometime in the late 90s/2000s, then yes). Ruddock was one-dimensional and didn't have the best chin. A fan favorite b/c people love athletic guys who can punch but he was what he was. Would've been interesting to see a peak Ruddock vs Wladimir though . . if Wlad was so timid vs Haye and Ibragimov, I shudder to think what he'd do vs Ruddock. Thing is I don't think Ruddock was a smart enough fighter to take advantage and get Klitschko out of there by setting up his bombs properly. He'd probablyt miss some big shots early and then get fatigued and picked apart by Klitschko's long punches. But just one clean shot and Wlad would be out of there.

I can't agree that the Tyson fights ruined him. He certainly didn't look remotely like damaged goods vs Greg Page or Phil Jackson. I think he seriously underestimated Lewis, who he assumed was the same boy he used to rough up in the gym in Canada in the mid-80s.

Lewis hit him square with a shocking right and didn't let him off the hook. Versus Tyson whenever he was hurt he was able to smother and use his cunning to survive, whereas vs Lewis when he was hurt he wasn't given the chance as LL stayed out of reach and kept pelting him with bombs until it was over.

No way Wlad Klitschko could duplicate any Lennox Lewis performance, Klitschko-Ruddock would look a lot like Sanders-Klitschko in my opinion.

dempseyfire wrote:Very much disagree (unless by 'champion' you mean could've helt a paper title sometime in the late 90s/2000s, then yes). Ruddock was one-dimensional and didn't have the best chin.

That's fair enough but I think he matches up very well with the Klitschko brothers who have unfeasibly built up fearsome reputation on nothing opponents, and I think men like James Braddock, Max Baer, Primo Carnera, Jess Willard, Floyd Patterson, et al would do well to beat the Razor. He was quite a beastly guy 87-92.

loaded_gloves wrote:I can't agree that the Tyson fights ruined him. He certainly didn't look remotely like damaged goods vs Greg Page or Phil Jackson. I think he seriously underestimated Lewis, who he assumed was the same boy he used to rough up in the gym in Canada in the mid-80s.

Lewis hit him square with a shocking right and didn't let him off the hook.

Loaded, something was wrong with him going into the lewis fight...if you watch it again you'll notice he hardly threw any punches and not one razors smash....not one!...he looked distracted, out of shape and like a guy going to a morgue....we know in retrospect he was out of his mind with murad muhammed and his own brother conspiring to rip him off...but you are right lewis did destroy him, and he just didnt fight back.....razors biggest fault was his lack of intelligence in the ring, he wouldnt use his natural gifts, and set things up, he had a decent right too but relied on his left, neglected his jab, and always acted so goofy getting knocked down and smiling etc! the 19 rounds he did with Tyson were some of the most brutal rounds in HW history

Ruddock was very underrated imo.

He would have easily had a belt or two had he been around in the past decade imo.

observer1 wrote:Ruddock was very underrated imo.

He would have easily had a belt or two had he been around in the past decade imo.

Ruddock, despite some technical flaws, is badly underrated and still a frightening thing to try and deal with. Just ask Mike Tyson.

If someone has seen a high volume of Ruddock fights, and watched heavyweight boxing this past decade, I cannot fathom how they would pick Hasim Rahman, Oleg Maskaev, Sam Peter, Wladimir Klitschko, John Ruiz, James Toney, Nikolay Valuev, Haye, Chagaev or Povetkin over Ruddock? I think he'd flatten any of them.

Lennox Lewis and Holyfield are too clever for him, Chris Byrd is a tough fight for his style although he could get to him like Ibeabuchi. Vitali, well, this is probably an unfashionable opinion given how loved he is, but I don't see how he could hurt Ruddock considering he couldn't take out the historically fragile Shannon Briggs who was 40, obese and one armed.