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Donovan Ruddock
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Donovan Ruddock (born December 21, 1963, in St. Catherine, Jamaica), also known as Razor Ruddock, is a retired Canadian heavyweight boxer. He was a promising Heavyweight of the late 1980s and early 1990s, who was known for a powerful left hook, which he called "The Smash." One of the best exhibitions of his left hook power, was his brutal 1990 knockout of former Heavyweight champion Michael Dokes.
n amateur, Ruddock had a win over Lennox Lewis.
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Donovan Ruddock (born December 21, 1963, in St. Catherine, Jamaica), also known as Razor Ruddock, is a retired Canadian heavyweight boxer. He was a promising Heavyweight of the late 1980s and early 1990s, who was known for a powerful left hook, which he called "The Smash." One of the best exhibitions of his left hook power, was his brutal 1990 knockout of former Heavyweight champion Michael Dokes.
Early Years
As an amateur, Ruddock had a win over Lennox Lewis. He turned pro in 1982, but his career started slowly, having only 11 fights between 1982 and 1985. He won eight of his first nine fights, but drew his fifth. More controversy would follow in April 1985 when he lost to journeyman Dave Jaco, who'd been KO'd by a young Mike Tyson the same year. After eight rounds Ruddock's corner threw in the towel after he complained of breathing problems. Jaco was awarded a TKO victory. It was discovered Ruddock had a rare respiratory illness and doctors told him his career might be over.
Return to the ring
After taking 10 months off after rehabilitation Ruddock made a full recovery to the doctors surprise and resumed his boxing career winning 9 straight fights, 8 of them by Ko also picking up an impressive decision win over former Heavyweight Champion Mike Weaver before going on to fight Ken Lakusta in 1988 for the Canadian heavyweight championship. Ruddock won by first round knock out.
In 1989 after two more wins, both by KO, a fight with another former Heavyweight Champion, the hard hitting James 'Bonecrusher' Smith was made. Some saw it was a risky fight because of Smiths power and a risk not worth taking. In the round 2 he was floored heavily by Smith but showed his heart by getting up, coming back in the round and impressively knocking out Smith in the 7th round.
A title bout was made with undisputed heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, scheduled for November 1989 in Edmonton, Alberta. Tyson, claiming illness, cancelled and opted instead to fight James "Buster" Douglas in Tokyo. Tyson would go on to lose in one of the biggest shocks in boxing history. Many accused Tyson of avoiding Ruddock.
Ruddock vs Dokes
1990, Ruddock would fight former heavyweight champion Michael Dokes. Ruddock would go into the fight as underdog but would put on one of the best performances of his career knocking out Dokes in the 4th round in devastating fashion which is seen now as one of the most vicious knockouts ever. Dokes appeared to be seriously stunned on the ropes after taking Ruddock's famous 'Smash' left hook, a right hand would follow which appeared to put Dokes out cold but Ruddock would throw another two hooks and Dokes was knocked out cold for minutes. He had made a statement to the boxing world he was a man to be feared.
Fights Rejected
After another KO win over Kimmuel Odum in 1990 Ruddock was now seen as the most feared and exciting heavyweight since Mike Tyson burst onto the boxing scene in 1985 with many ranking his power with that of the Heavyweight greats like George Foreman. Ruddock would hold talks with the new heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield fresh from his KO win over James 'Buster' Douglas. Holyfield refused the fight and opted to fight 41 year old George Foreman instead which he was heavily criticized for at the time. Ruddock would turn his attentions to another up and coming star Riddick Bowe, and held talks with Bowe's management about a possible fight between the two but again Ruddock was unable to get the big fight he craved as Bowe would refuse the fight and opted to fight little known Philipp Brown instead.
Mike Tyson Accepts Fight
With no big name opponent, Ruddock took a warm up fight against Mike Rouse in December 1990 winning by 1st round knockout. The boxing world was calling for Holyfield, Bowe and Tyson to fight Ruddock and prove who was the best heavyweight. Ruddock would finally get his big fight in 1991 after it was announced in January that Ruddock would fight Mike Tyson in march after Tyson accepted Ruddock's challenge. Both fighters were praised in the boxing world for making the fight happen and it was seen by many as the fight between the two best heavyweights in the world as Evander Holyfield was still lightly regarded as champion. It would pit Tyson the number #1 contender against Ruddock who was number #2 for the right to fight the winner of Holyfield-Foreman.
Tyson vs Ruddock
Tyson-Ruddock happened on March 18, 1991. The fight received much attention and at the time was one of the biggest ppv fights to date. The fight was brutal with Tyson scoring a knockdown in round 2 (which was actually a trip) and then knocking Ruddock down toward the end of round 3. The fight went back and forth with Ruddock showing incredible heart and determination. Ruddock had his big moment in round 6 after connecting with some big shots and a uppercut that stunned Tyson before the bell sounded. Tyson started Round 7 charging at Ruddock and after catching him with numerous big shots referee Richard Steele controversially stopped the fight even though it appeared Ruddock, although staggering, was OK to continue. The premature stoppage caused tempers to boil over with people angry at the decision. Fighting broke out between both camps in the ring. Referee Richard Steele had to be escorted out of the ring after the angry protests. The only people who seemed calm through it all were the two fighters who both praised each other after the fight with Tyson saying "He Punches like a fucking kick from a mule", stating it was the hardest he'd ever been hit, something he still says to this day.
Tyson vs Ruddock II
A rematch was called for and it happened three months later on June 28, 1991.
The rematch was another huge ppv event out selling the first and would go the full 12 rounds. It was every bit as brutal as the first with both Tyson and Ruddock repeating what they had 3 months before. Tyson put Ruddock over twice like did in the first fight and Ruddock would also repeat what he did hurting Tyson twice in rounds 9 and 10 both showing tremendous heart and courage but Tyson would see it through to claim a unanimous decision. Ruddock received a broken jaw midway through the fight and tyson suffered a perforated eardrum. Tyson praised Ruddock as a great heavyweight saying 'Man this guy is tough, he'll be champion of the world one day if he stays dedicated and doesn't slip up'. Tyson would not fight again for over four years after being found guilty of rape.
Comeback Trail
After losing to Tyson for the second time, Ruddock picked up victories over former heavyweight champion Greg Page and got an impressive win over undefeated hope Phil Jackson, both fights again were won by KO. Those victories set up a bout with Lennox Lewis in London, 1992. The bout was seen as an elimination bout for the opportunity to face the winner of the upcoming Riddick Bowe - Holyfield match. Many people predicted Ruddock would win, because he was able to give Tyson trouble and Lewis' relative inexperience. In the build-up to the fight there were rumours of turmoil in Ruddock's camp, Ruddock claiming he was being ripped off by his own management, whispers that Ruddock hadn't trained for the fight and wanted to pull out because of personal problems. Ruddock was shockingly knocked out in 2 rounds. Ruddock would say after the fight that he got careless and got caught cold and just wanted to go home, take time out and sort his life out.
Ruddock never looked the same fighter again and some boxing insiders felt his fights with Tyson had finished him . After more than two years out after the Lewis defeat in 1994 Ruddock came back with an unimpressive points win over Anthony Wade which led to a fight with Tommy Morrison in 1995.
Ruddock-Morrison was another classic Ruddock war and in the very first round he put Morrison down, and seemed to be close to stopping Morrison, but was caught by a clean left hook that wobbled him , Again like the first Tyson fight Ruddock was stopped again Controversially in the 6th round. After the loss to Morrison in 1995, Ruddock disappeared for 3 years until he returned once again in 1998. He continued to fight until 2001 and never lost a fight. He finished his career by regaining the Canadian Heavyweight title for a second time in his last fight and retired with an impressive record of 37 wins in 43 bouts.
Legacy
Ruddock will somewhat be thought of as an underachiever as he never won a version of the World Heavyweight titles but it could also be argued he was avoided during his career and was frozen out at times when he was deserving of a shot.
Since he Retired in 2001 when asked about his Boxing career he stated his fights with Tyson took everything out of him and believed they also finished Tyson insisting both he and Tyson were never the same after those fights.
Ruddock was ranked 70th on Ring Magazine's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time.
Life After Boxing
After boxing Ruddock invented a non-electrical garbage compacter called The Boxer which he's hoping will become a success. Ruddock is launching the device in Toronto before he starts to market The Boxer globally. He is hoping to start a foundation for young inventors with profits from the device.
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