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a look back at lewis: ruddock
www.eastsideboxing.com
12.04.06 - By James Slater: It was Halloween,1992. Earls Court in London was the venue and Lennox Lewis was having his first real test against a world class fighter. No disrespect to Gary Mason, but Donovan "Razor" Ruddock would be Lewis' real breakthrough opponent. If he could defeat the man who had given Mike Tyson such a hard fight twice, as well as destroying capable men such as former champ Michael Dokes, then Lewis would undeniably be not only a world rated heavyweight but one perhaps good enough to rise to the very top. The fight against Ruddock was billed as an official eliminator for the world title, with the winner pencilled in to face new linear and universally recognised champion Riddick Bowe. Could Lewis become Britain's first heavyweight champion of the world for almost one hundred years? Bob Fitzsimmons was the last Englishman to hold boxing's ultimate title and now Lewis, although he'd won his Olympic gold medal in Seoul while representing Canada, was only one victory away from having the chance to follow in Fitzsimmons' footsteps. All that stood in his way from a shot at the title was the murderous punching Ruddock!
A sell-out crowd crammed into Earls Court in the hope that the hometown man would win. However, no-one was under the impression that it was going to be easy. Lewis may have been an Olympic medal winner and an undefeated prospect with good wins over the likes of Tyrell Biggs (who had defeated Lewis in the '84 Olympics) former champ Mike Weaver and the aforementioned Gary Mason, but he had never faced a fighter with the reputation and proven punching power of Razor. This was the acid test for Lennox.
Shockingly, surprisingly and almost unbelievably, Lewis did win easily. Just as NO-ONE had predicted! (Although immediately after the fight Lewis' trainer at the time - Pepé Correa- claimed he had predicted a quick win for his man.) When the two fighters came face to face in ring centreRuddock was clearly and noticeably the more anxious boxer. He could not keep still and was burning huge amounts of nervous energy. Lewis on the other hand looked ice cool. Was Ruddock intimidated? Although at the time such a notion would have seemed unlikely, it did seem in hindsight that this indeed was the case. The two had met before, as amateurs in Canada (Razor's hometown) and now, as a result, Lennox exuded real confidence. Then came the first bell.
Razor came out stalking and Lewis boxed and moved. Both were in great physical condition and beforehand most experts believed the best chance Lennox had for victory would be by using his skills and taking the fight into the later rounds where he might have been able to score a KO, or more likely, win on points. Everyone thinking along those lines was in for a shock. And Quick! Ruddock, near the end of the round, attempted to jab at Lewis' midsection and in the process left himself open. Lennox saw the opening and let go with a smashing right hand punch that travelled downwards and caught Razor flush on the side of the head. His legs immediately turned to jelly and he collapsed to the floor. The crowd was stunned at first, then let out screams of excitement. Where had Lewis got that power from? Not one expert considered him a huge puncher at the time. Now we all knew different. Then came the bell, saving Razor.
Floyd Patterson, Ruddock's still relatively new trainer told his man to relax during the minute's rest. He was all too aware of his fighter's anxiety and did his best to calm him sufficiently for round two. Razor had been very badly hurt by Lewis' sharp and powerful punch. Still, Lennox would have to be careful, Ruddock had gotten off the floor to win before. Razor went on the attack again in a desperate effort to land something big on Lewis. But he was soon in trouble again himself. Lewis cracked home with more fast and damaging punches and Razor was downed for a second time. Surely, Lennox would win his finest performance to date now? Ruddock bounced back up quickly, too quickly as it turned out. This speedy rise from the canvas was one indicative of a man who didn't know where he was. Lewis went in for the kill as a final, desperation uppercut from Ruddock failed to slow him down. A superb combination from Lennox ended matters and Ruddock crashed to the mat for the third and final time. He had been utterly destroyed! No-one had ever done this to him, not even Tyson. Lewis raised his arms in triumph, never once losing his incredible composure. The crowd on the other hand was going completely nuts! Had England at last found a serious threat to America's world domination at heavyweight?
As we know today, yes, England had finally found a fighter who was the real deal at heavyweight. It had been a long time coming - almost one hundred years! Unfortunately the fight with Riddick Bowe never happened as Bowe chose to drop his WBC belt rather than face Lewis. As a result a fascinating and potential super fight was lost. The fans were the people to lose out and we will never know just what would have happened had the two met.
As for Ruddock, he was never the same again. He did fight on, most noticeably in a fight with Tommy "The Duke" Morrison. But he was to lose this one too and although he continued to box on and off until 2001,he never again got near a world title fight. Still, he did go out as a winner, capturing the Canadian heavyweight title in his last fight.
Lewis went on to pretty much dominate the next ten years or so in the division, as Bowe, after some great performances - most notably the three fight series with Evander Holyfield- pretty much ate himself out of contention. Lennox would allow no such lack of self discipline to ruin his career. He went on to solidify his greatness with wins over Holyfield( after an appalling "draw") Andrew Golota, Shannon Briggs and David Tua. His legacy is secure as a heavyweight who ruled the division from the mid nineties until his final fight in 2003.
But it was that shocking two rounder against Razor Ruddock in 1992 that announced Lennox's arrival on the world stage. He couldn't have arrived with a bigger bang!
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Originally Posted by rob7022000
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