David Jaco vs. Donovan Ruddock
David Jaco 208 lbs beat Donovan Ruddock 203 lbs by RTD at 3:00 in round 7 of 10
- Date: 1985-04-30
- Location: Dartmouth Sportsplex, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
- Referee: Honey Carvery
- Judge: Foster MacNeil
- Judge: Ron Bryden
- Judge: Stu Isner
David Jaco, far behind on points, was declared the winner when Donovan "Razor" Ruddock failed to answer the bell for the eighth round.
"I had an asthma attack during the fight," Ruddock said later. "I started hyper-ventilating and the doctor stopped the fight." Others, including Jaco, said Ruddock quit. [1]
"The day before the Jaco fight, Donovan was sick," said Delroy Ruddock, the boxer's brother and manager. "A doctor examined him and told him not to go ahead with the fight. But Donovan hadn't had a bout in, like, six months. His attitude was: 'I'll take a chance. The fight won't go the distance.' " [2]
In a 1999 interview with Cyber Boxing Zone, Ruddock said he started taking the asthma medication Ventolin when he fought. He also stated: "I moved to Florida for the nice weather, and it's helped me quite a bit. I haven't had a problem with it since. I also had some serious large tonsils that were blocking my airway that I've had removed." [3]