Another Heavyweight Yawn-fest
Prompted by my discussions with Heff (blog not for kids), I've decided to start discussing, at least occasionally, my beloved sport of boxing on this here blog.
Tommorrow night, there is to be a battle between two guys who have shown almost no kick-assedness whatsoever, but have somehow managed to make a living in heavyweight ranks.
Johnny "Louise" Ruiz follow's Muhammad Ali's example of holding, grabbing, and bending the rules, and has done so up to a laughable WBA belt. Unlike "the Greatest", however, "Louise" lacks the boxing skills, the strength, the chin, and the speed that made Ali one of the greatest boxers of all time. In his last fight against Andrew "The Foul Pole" Golota, "Johnny Louise" was beaten like a drum, knocked down twice, and only Golota's poor conditioning and late round sloth let the Mexican Hugging Bean eke out a unanimous decision. Ruiz looked like a fool fighting, and losing to, Roy Jones, Jr.
James "Lights Out Due to extreme boredom" Toney has not had a victory over a quality heavyweight (No, a 75-year old Holyfield doesn't count as quality), though he was impressive in lower classes. I was impressed with how Toney beat a tomato can (albeit an undefeated one) named Rydell Booker with one arm (he ruptured his biceps tendon). I watched this fight, and can attest to the toughness of "JLOT". Toney's chin has yet to be tested, but as Johnny Louise couldn't knock down a bean pole, Toney's chin won't be an issue. What will be an issue, is Toney's current Hatch-like physique. Toney started boxing as a pro at 160...what did he weigh in at, 230+? If he isn't fast enough to run around Ruiz like Roy Jones Jr did, Toney will have a tough time on Saturday. Given Toney's penchant for injury, his weight and conditioning could be a major factor.
Leonard's loser? Johnny Louise, probably in an ugly, boring, hug fest. Ruiz lacks the power to put Toney away, and unless Toney is even more out of shape than I'm thinking, he'll take a unanimous decision. Toney has skills, but he seems to lack real power, so while Toney could score a knockdown or two, I'd just as soon expect Hatch to join the Moscow Ballet before this fight (that I'm not buying, BTW) ends with a knockout. The judges may again award an ugly victory to Ruiz, but I despise the guy to much to actually predict such a thing.
Prompted by my discussions with Heff (blog not for kids), I've decided to start discussing, at least occasionally, my beloved sport of boxing on this here blog.
Tommorrow night, there is to be a battle between two guys who have shown almost no kick-assedness whatsoever, but have somehow managed to make a living in heavyweight ranks.
Johnny "Louise" Ruiz follow's Muhammad Ali's example of holding, grabbing, and bending the rules, and has done so up to a laughable WBA belt. Unlike "the Greatest", however, "Louise" lacks the boxing skills, the strength, the chin, and the speed that made Ali one of the greatest boxers of all time. In his last fight against Andrew "The Foul Pole" Golota, "Johnny Louise" was beaten like a drum, knocked down twice, and only Golota's poor conditioning and late round sloth let the Mexican Hugging Bean eke out a unanimous decision. Ruiz looked like a fool fighting, and losing to, Roy Jones, Jr.
James "Lights Out Due to extreme boredom" Toney has not had a victory over a quality heavyweight (No, a 75-year old Holyfield doesn't count as quality), though he was impressive in lower classes. I was impressed with how Toney beat a tomato can (albeit an undefeated one) named Rydell Booker with one arm (he ruptured his biceps tendon). I watched this fight, and can attest to the toughness of "JLOT". Toney's chin has yet to be tested, but as Johnny Louise couldn't knock down a bean pole, Toney's chin won't be an issue. What will be an issue, is Toney's current Hatch-like physique. Toney started boxing as a pro at 160...what did he weigh in at, 230+? If he isn't fast enough to run around Ruiz like Roy Jones Jr did, Toney will have a tough time on Saturday. Given Toney's penchant for injury, his weight and conditioning could be a major factor.
Leonard's loser? Johnny Louise, probably in an ugly, boring, hug fest. Ruiz lacks the power to put Toney away, and unless Toney is even more out of shape than I'm thinking, he'll take a unanimous decision. Toney has skills, but he seems to lack real power, so while Toney could score a knockdown or two, I'd just as soon expect Hatch to join the Moscow Ballet before this fight (that I'm not buying, BTW) ends with a knockout. The judges may again award an ugly victory to Ruiz, but I despise the guy to much to actually predict such a thing.
posted by Paul at 4/29/2005 07:40:00 PM
1 Comments:
Lights Out started off in the middle weight category (circa 160 pounds). That he has gone up to heavy weight is pretty impressive. When Oscar de la Hoya went up 8 pounds to fight Bernard "The Executioner' Hopkins, he eventually got pounded. Ruiz is not a good fighter, but he hung around longer than he had any right to, so there is something to be said for that. But he was not a good fighter.
By the way, the Ali/Wepner fight that served as the basis for Rocky was on this weekend. Pretty impressive effort from pudgy white boy who did not look like he could go the distance with Ali.
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