You know what, and you can call me crazy, Holyfield knocked out Ruiz in that 10th round. It was Holyfield's 38 year old version of a "shoeshine" :-) And prior to that, Holyfield busted up Ruiz' in the 9th round something awful. Ruiz layed on that canvas, and after getting KO'd, milked that 5 minute respite for all it was worth. And Joe Cortez deducts a point without any prior warnings(actually, he warned both fighters earlier in the fight)....c'mon.
At the end of the 10th round, Ruiz busted Holyfield in the chops and shook him up some. That right hand from Ruiz at the start of the 11th was sweet and really shook Holyfield up. Holyfield was very hurt. Ruiz couldn't put him down a second time though. Ruiz is not a finisher.
Ruiz didn't exactly go after it in the 12th round did he? No doubt, Ruiz is a very tough guy. His face was busted up brutally around his eyes, cut up on his forehead, and a general mess. He hung in there and hung around against Holyfield. He's sneaky fast with that right hand and got lucky. I give Ruiz credit for knocking down Holyfield for the 5th time in his career. After witnessing his 10th round low blow scam, Ruiz can go the back of the line of fighters I would ever root for.
As for Holyfield, the problems are more obvious. He rarely throws combinations anymore after being one of the best combination punching heavyweight champions ever. He also got caught and almost knocked out by a guy like Ruiz, which should tell Holyfield all he needs to know about the current state of his ring skills.
Bruce |
