BoxRec

Does anyone remember how this fight went..? I never saw the fight and see very little commentary on it... Was Ruddock dominant and was Page considered to be a threat at all in the fight?

Hey jont, sorry I didn't see your query a day or two before this.

Anyhow, while this is taxing my memory banks by a good decade & a half, I seem to recall it being a surprisingly competetive fight when most expected it to be a blow out. At the time, Ruddock was considered THE most dangerous heavyweight in the world ( not incarcerated that is ) & Page was seen as well past it. Nothing more than a name opponent.

But, Page gave Ruddock some tough moments during the course of the bout & kept it quite close on points, before Ruddocks power asserted itself & ended matters in the eighth round.

Hope this helped a wee bit.

Peace.

joe kurtz wrote:But, Page gave Ruddock some tough moments during the course of the bout & kept it quite close on points, before Ruddocks power asserted itself & ended matters in the eighth round.

The fight was stopped after round 8, I believe.

Page was game and came in not so much as 'in shape' but mjust lighter, although his body was still soft.

Ruddock was swinging and trying to knock Pages block off, and although he stunned him several times his best shots couldnt put Page down.

Page threw a bit of leather back and made a fight of it, even though years of bad living had clearly eroded everything but his freakish chin.

Ruddock had Page out of it in the 8th rd, and as Page staggered to his corner the ref decided to end it there.

Floyd Patterson was Ruddocks trainer by now, and he was frustrated by Ruddock and trying to slow him down and make him box, but Ruddock just wanted to brawl.

Terry D wrote:...If we had Page, Dokes and Witherspoon around today they would be kicking some pre-programmed Eastern European arse.

Yes, there was much better talent in the 80's than today, especially in the HW division. The sport was much more poular and there was actually still public interest in not only the big name fighters, but also club level and even amatuer boxing.

Page, Dokes, Spoon, Weaver, Thomas, Berbick and Smith (on a good night anyway) would all kick some euro arse.

Especially if there was a buffet in their way....

Cap wrote:Especially if there was a buffet in their way....

Of course that would motivate todays slobs as well, so it could be pretty entertaining.

Terry D wrote:Yeah, Page was in the fight but it was only a matter of time throughout.

I once read a brilliant description of Page on a torrent 'Ali with tits'.

Page-Snipes is a quality bout and Page generally was a very good fighter. As was Dokes. Williams. Witherspoon and a number of that lost generation.

If we had Page, Dokes and Witherspoon around today they would be kicking some pre-programmed Eastern European arse.

No they wouldn't. Everyone of them would get dominate by Wlad.

zslayton wrote:

Terry D wrote:Yeah, Page was in the fight but it was only a matter of time throughout.

I once read a brilliant description of Page on a torrent 'Ali with tits'.

Page-Snipes is a quality bout and Page generally was a very good fighter. As was Dokes. Williams. Witherspoon and a number of that lost generation.

If we had Page, Dokes and Witherspoon around today they would be kicking some pre-programmed Eastern European arse.

No they wouldn't. Everyone of them would get dominate by Wlad.

Until he put his dodgy chin in the way of Coetzee's bionic hand...

Collins2000 wrote:

zslayton wrote:

Terry D wrote:Yeah, Page was in the fight but it was only a matter of time throughout.

I once read a brilliant description of Page on a torrent 'Ali with tits'.

Page-Snipes is a quality bout and Page generally was a very good fighter. As was Dokes. Williams. Witherspoon and a number of that lost generation.

If we had Page, Dokes and Witherspoon around today they would be kicking some pre-programmed Eastern European arse.

No they wouldn't. Everyone of them would get dominate by Wlad.

Until he put his dodgy chin in the way of Coetzee's bionic hand...

You know, Lennox Lewis got KO'ed in a brutal way 2 times. Patterson a few times. Charles a few times. Joe Louis twice. Mike Tyson a few times. Holyfield got stopped 2 times. Holmes got KO'ed by Tyson. Frazier got destroyed by Foreman. Foreman got KO'ed by Ali. Liston got stopped by Ali twice and also another guy (name is escaping me). Larry Holmes got knocked down a lot, but he always got up. Go down the list of heavyweight champions and almost every one of them got KO'ed or stopped at some point. Yes, I will agree Wlad's chin is not as good as some past champions, a lot of past champions. However, he did get stopped by 2 guys that have big punches in Sanders and Brewster. Even Purity hits hard, even if he is a gate keeper type fighter. A few other guys have put him down, but against Peter he pulled himself up and showed championship heart to get up and box Peter's head off to win that fight. He avenged the loss to Brewster by pretty much destroying him in their second fight. I expect him to dominate the division for a few more years before they next great thing comes along.

So his chin is not the best. That is okay because his size and huge punch, combined with his somewhat fragile beard make his fights somewhat exciting (well, not all of them....Ibragimov).

My point is he is to big for those guys mentioned above, hits to hard, and has enough of a jab and right hand to dominate most rounds against them. Plus, now that he is getting up from being knocked down it's not good for the heavyweights that put him down.

zslayton wrote:My point is he is to big for those guys mentioned above, hits to hard, and has enough of a jab and right hand to dominate most rounds against them. Plus, now that he is getting up from being knocked down it's not good for the heavyweights that put him down.

I doubt he'd dominate those guys mentioned above.

Nothing you have said has convinced me. The analogy you draw with past greats getting stopped is weak as, apart from Lennox who I also don't rate that highly, most of them were stopped by other greats or pre or post their prime. Not by guys like Sanders and Brewster who, without being disrespectful, are never going to be mentioned in the same breath as Ali, Louis, Foreman, Frazier etc.

I don't hold the Puritty loss against him too much as he was pre prime. But the other losses were enough to suggest to me Wlad wouldn't dominate those 80's alphabet champs. They all blew hot and cold and if he caught them on his best night and their worst night he'd be in with a good shout but on their best night I'd pick all 3 of them to stand him on his head.

Right so Wlad can get flattened by a 38 year old flab bucket who was only a fringe contender in his 90s prime, implode against journeymen like Puritty and Brewster, yet somehow hes going to survive the chin, punch power and skills of the 80s batch?

Wishful thinking, considering the evidence.

Who are all of these other top HWs Brewster and Sanders beat? Al Cole? Golota? Brewster couldn't even beat Meehan for crying out loud. No other HW champ lost in his prime to such mediocre competition (and all of them stoppage losses to boot)

Wlad survived Peter b/c A) Peter's fat ass completly gassed out) B) Wlad held excessively throughout the bout with no action done by the referee. Peter is a garbage fighter and will lose in embarassing fashion to the next skilled boxer he faces.

Who else has Wlad beaten to compare to the likes of Coatzee, THomas, Witherspoon, Page??

Calvin Brock? A shot Brewster? Austin? Botha? McCline? Ibragimov?

I would confidently beat a fringe contender from the 80s Quick Tillis to beat that entire group (and to knock out Klitschko early)

At his best Tillis had a very good jab and quite a kick in his right hand. It is hard to imagine the Wlad that got hurt and dropped by TOS beating a prime Tillis.

I never thought about it but yes, Tillis probably would kayo Wlad.

He had the punch power to deck Greg Page, so he certainly can do same to Wlad.

He could also go 15 rds with a puncher, and had skills. Oh and look at him v Tyson.

Christ, Tillis would beat up Wlad!!

overhand_right wrote:I never thought about it but yes, Tillis probably would kayo Wlad.

He had the punch power to deck Greg Page, so he certainly can do same to Wlad.

He could also go 15 rds with a puncher, and had skills. Oh and look at him v Tyson.

Christ, Tillis would beat up Wlad!!

Indeed.

The Great John L wrote:At his best Tillis had a very good jab and quite a kick in his right hand. It is hard to imagine the Wlad that got hurt and dropped by TOS beating a prime Tillis.

He was also very fast.

Nile4000 wrote:

The Great John L wrote:At his best Tillis had a very good jab and quite a kick in his right hand. It is hard to imagine the Wlad that got hurt and dropped by TOS beating a prime Tillis.

He was also very fast.

Or better yet, "Quick".

Ive sparred with Tillis.
He had real good footwork and fast hands no doubt.
I think we boxed two maybe three rounds.
I hit him a grand total of zero times.Woulda been 1988 I think.
In shape and focused he was a real good fighter.

Thats amazing expug - whats your name if you don't mind me asking? I'm guessing you were a professional heavyweight in the 80s?

What was his punch power like? I always felt he hadan under rated dig, but i never got hit by him.

How did he compare to other guys you shared a ring with?

http://www.boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?hu ... &cat=boxer

I was just a prelim guy.Lightheavy when I sparred with James.
He was in a way different league than I was thats for sure.
He could punch real good in my opinion, but the thing I remember is when he was on his toes moving, he boxed real well. Hard to hit.
At least for me.
I fought on his undercards a couple times also , so we knew each other a little bit.
He is a good guy.
The hardest Ive ever been hit in my life was a bodyshot in the gym by a guy named Henry Sims.
He fought Mike Rossman.
Busted one of my ribs.

Expug wrote:http://www.boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?hu ... &cat=boxer

I was just a prelim guy.Lightheavy when I sparred with James.
He was in a way different league than I was thats for sure.
He could punch real good in my opinion, but the thing I remember is when he was on his toes moving, he boxed real well. Hard to hit.
At least for me.
I fought on his undercards a couple times also , so we knew each other a little bit.
He is a good guy.
The hardest Ive ever been hit in my life was a bodyshot in the gym by a guy named Henry Sims.
He fought Mike Rossman.
Busted one of my ribs.

How is Tillis these days, expug?

Bennie, I havent seen him in many years.
My thoughts are that he might not be living here in Chicago anymore.
He is origianly from Tulsa Oklahoma and I think he may have gone back there.
He wrote a book called I think "The Fighting Cowboy"in which he talks all about his career.
It is probably a fun read.
I havent seen it in any stores around here, but it is probably worth checking for online.

Expug wrote:Bennie, I havent seen him in many years.
My thoughts are that he might not be living here in Chicago anymore.
He is origianly from Tulsa Oklahoma and I think he may have gone back there.
He wrote a book called I think "The Fighting Cowboy"in which he talks all about his career.
It is probably a fun read.
I havent seen it in any stores around here, but it is probably worth checking for online.

Cheers, Brian.

Brian, thanks for the stories, i really enjoyed hearing it.

You shared a ring with the first man to take Tyson the distance- amazing!

Tillis wrote a great little book called 'Thinkin Big', its a fun, fascinating and occasionally sad read-- really worth investing in.

Available on Amazon.com