Ruiz and history

[JAB5239]

I think its safe to say John Ruiz is out of the boxing big time for good now. Personally I thought he was going to beat Haye, but I guess that was wishful thinking. Anyway, if he is done how and where would you rank him amongst all time heavyweights? He's not nearly as bad as many have made him out to be and has a pretty solid resume. Top 20 or 25? Discuss.

[1SILVA]

I think its safe to say John Ruiz is out of the boxing big time for good now. Personally I thought he was going to beat Haye, but I guess that was wishful thinking. Anyway, if he is done how and where would you rank him amongst all time heavyweights? He's not nearly as bad as many have made him out to be and has a pretty solid resume. Top 20 or 25? Discuss.

I think he falls short of top 25. The Heavyweight division has had many excellent fighters in its history. I will list 25 heavyweights and Jab, in your very humble and knowledgeable opinion, tell me who he may have been better than, in no particular order:

Ali
Louis
Lewis
Dempsey
Foreman
Frazier
Holmes
Johnson
Langford
Marciano
Patterson
Liston
Bowe
Tyson
W Klitschko
V Klitschko
Norton
Charles
Walcott
Jeffries
Witherspoon
Fitzsimmons
Corbett
Bivins
Wills

[freudianfloyd]

I think its safe to say John Ruiz is out of the boxing big time for good now. Personally I thought he was going to beat Haye, but I guess that was wishful thinking. Anyway, if he is done how and where would you rank him amongst all time heavyweights? He's not nearly as bad as many have made him out to be and has a pretty solid resume. Top 20 or 25? Discuss.

No where near the top 25! I would probably rank him one spot ahead of Primo Carnera, and I wouldn't put Carnera in the top 50. Ruiz' resume doesn't look too bad on paper, but when you are a heavyweight that has the distinction of losing to two different former middleweights, ( i know the Toney fight was changed to a NC), Losing to a well past his prime Evander Holyfield, being part of the dullest fight in the history of the sport with Hasim Rahman, and never facing any of the top contenders or champions outside of the WBA, such as Lennox Lewis, or the Klitchkos, doesn't help his standings in history.

[Southpaw16BF]

I agree he is not a top 25 HW!

But he is underrated

[TheGreatA]

He was probably top 5, top 8 of the past 10 years. Not top 30 all-time though.

[Joey Giardello]

I think its safe to say John Ruiz is out of the boxing big time for good now. Personally I thought he was going to beat Haye, but I guess that was wishful thinking. Anyway, if he is done how and where would you rank him amongst all time heavyweights? He's not nearly as bad as many have made him out to be and has a pretty solid resume. Top 20 or 25? Discuss.

Ruiz was not great on the eyes but he got the job done abnd beat alot of good fighters, one thing i like about ruiz was his never give in attiude, i was rooting for him against haye, that win would of made him a 3 time wba champion and would of booked his place in the ibhf

[JAB5239]

I think he falls short of top 25. The Heavyweight division has had many excellent fighters in its history. I will list 25 heavyweights and Jab, in your very humble and knowledgeable opinion, tell me who he may have been better than, in no particular order:

Ali
Louis
Lewis
Dempsey
Foreman
Frazier
Holmes
Johnson
Langford
Marciano
Patterson
Liston
Bowe
Tyson
W Klitschko
V Klitschko
Norton
Charles
Walcott
Jeffries
Witherspoon
Fitzsimmons
Corbett
Bivins
Wills

Ouch, tough list! Talk about putting me on the spot.

Out of this list I would hesitate in ranking him above anybody but Witherspoon. Tim was much more talented, would in all likelyhood win h2h, but Ruiz was more accomplished and has the better resume in my opinion. I'd have to go back and look over Fitzsimmons career at heavy and possibly Corbett, but I guess there is no way he makes the top 20. Off the top of my head I wasn't thinking of many of the top black heavies who don't get proper recognition when I wrote this either.

[1SILVA]

Ouch, tough list! Talk about putting me on the spot.

Out of this list I would hesitate in ranking him above anybody but Witherspoon. Tim was much more talented, would in all likelyhood win h2h, but Ruiz was more accomplished and has the better resume in my opinion. I'd have to go back and look over Fitzsimmons career at heavy and possibly Corbett, but I guess there is no way he makes the top 20. Off the top of my head I wasn't thinking of many of the top black heavies who don't get proper recognition when I wrote this either.

One thing I have to give Ruiz is that he accomplished more in his career than his talent should have allowed. If I give you that he's better than Witherspoon, you could easily find other fighters like Moorer and many of the early 20th century Black fighters that were better than Ruiz. Ruiz had an excellent considering his shortcomings.

[JAB5239]

One thing I have to give Ruiz is that he accomplished more in his career than his talent should have allowed. If I give you that he's better than Witherspoon, you could easily find other fighters like Moorer and many of the early 20th century Black fighters that were better than Ruiz. Ruiz had an excellent considering his shortcomings.

No, he's not better than Spoon in my opinion, but he had a better career therefore should rank higher all time. I do believe I would argue he should be ranked higher than Moorer as well, though I'd have to gloss over his career first.

[paul750]

I was surprised to see that hardly anybody was glad he was beaten. For years and years, people wanted rid of him like a bad dose of the flu, yet now, there finally seems to be a certain amount of respect for him [maybe deservedly so]. It probably has a lot to do with Haye not being that well liked either.

You have to hand it to Ruiz though, he has shown a lot of determination, and has carved out a good career, even if he hasn't drawn much support.