BoxRec

i was 15 years old when this fight happened...i missed it,but i heard Tyson had some difficulty with Ribalta..From what i read..Tyson scored KnockDowns in rounds 2,8 and 10..but had some trouble along the way..along with suffering a bloody nose..Did Ribalta have a chance to win that night or go the distance?...Or did Tyson have a bad night?..

From memory Ribalta fought defensively, as a cruiserweight probably should against the HW Tyson

bollox wrote:From memory Ribalta fought defensively, as a cruiserweight probably should against the HW Tyson

Cruiserweight - Ribalta was a big guy wasn't he? I just double-checked his record and he was 6' 5" and never less than 200lb.

Jose Ribalta was a legit and very BIG heavyweight. definitely not a cruiserweight. Yeah he was knocked down a few times but he hung in & gave Tyson an awkward night.

The ref stopped the fight too early with Ribalta on his feets on the ropes not taking any real clean shots, it looked like the ref was trying to give Tyson the KO win instead of points.

Ribalta was pretty useful in the 80s, very good record, and like Mitch Blood Green, Tucker, Smith his 6'5'' frame made it difficult for Tyson to score the knockout.

With a different ref Ribalta would have been allowed to last the distance but at least he had a lot of creditibility for years after the fight cos he was one of the few guys who could go so far with Iron Mike.

Yeah. And the ref stopped the first Ruddock fight too early also. Incidentally there was a big outcry about that and a rematch was made. Ruddock went the distance in the rematch and Tyson fought very dirty.

Tyson had always a hard time putting out 6-5 guys that were solid fighters. Which makes me think that he always would have had trouble with Lewis or with Bowe if he fought them, no amtter what year.

Tyson beat the hell out of Ribalta. The last knockdown he actually lifted Ribalta off the canvas with an uppercut. When the ref stopped it Ribalta was on the ropes getting blasted and not answering back. Premature? maybe a hair but Ive seen a lot worse and Ribalta had absolutely no chance of winning. As I recall he didnt win a round and took a terrible beating.

Hesketh wrote:

bollox wrote:From memory Ribalta fought defensively, as a cruiserweight probably should against the HW Tyson

Cruiserweight - Ribalta was a big guy wasn't he? I just double-checked his record and he was 6' 5" and never less than 200lb.

Must have been thinking of Alfonzo Ratliff

Ribalta was never in the fight. As Larry Merchant said on the HBO broadcast before the fight, and I remember it well.

Jose Ribalta's chances in this fight are slim and none, and Slim left town.

Nothing more needed to be said.