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I've noticed an almost unprecidented level of pro-Ruiz threads on here these last few weeks, and clearly it's motivated by one thing: we don't want that big Russian to get his hands on "our" belts.
But is this a step back to redemption for Jenny Louise? If he wins tonight he'll actually be in the rare role of hero. Here's my tips for five steps to redemption:
1. Win tonight, and claim you did it for America and Perto Ricans. People are nationalistic sons of bitches deep down, and love that sort of stuff.
2. Lose the hugging. John dropped it for the Toney fight (humiliatingly being told "very good" by the referee every time he went against his nature) and put on a much better than expected bout. He still didn't look pretty, but the hugging has to go. Louise has to find another way to win.
3. Boost your public persona. We all saw what happened when Louise speaks at the Toney-Louise press conference. It wasn't pretty, though he did get a nice (unintentionally prophetic) line about Toney being the result of drugs. "I'm the best, you know... I'm the best." By his side Louise has a cantankerous foul-mouth who loves nothing more to provoke other people until he gets beaten up. With the right backing, Stoney should be a star... and he can pick Louise up with him as a double-act.
4. Unify. Not as strange as it may sound. Byrd's getting increasingly slow and ready to be defeathered... Louise already has a win over Rahman should he prevail, and the fight with Toney wasn't the one-sided shutout most try and claim it was. Brewster's a problem, but despite a very good 2005, he's still an unproven quantity. Purely in terms of records, there's no one better with a belt currently than Louise.
5. Cement the legacy with three more good mandatories and get out. People can knock his style all they want - asthetically, he makes Chris Byrd look like the most exciting fighter on the planet - but you can't fault his record. He had two SD losses in his first twenty learning bouts (when he was 18 wins, with 11 KOs), and got caught cold by a prime David Tua. Anyone can get caught, and while his chin perhaps isn't the greatest, the fact that that's his only stoppage loss in 48 bouts says something. The historical fact that only three former middleweights have been able to take the heavyweight crown and two were with Louise (now one, due to the fact that one was juiced) takes away that the two middles in question were exceptional HOFs and Louise isn't a particularly big heavyweight. People talk about Byrd, but Louise also gives away weight and height in many of his bouts, and is always willing to step up. I give the guy credit for his balls, and his willingness to carry on even in the face of unheralded adversity. Merry Christmas Louise.
But is this a step back to redemption for Jenny Louise? If he wins tonight he'll actually be in the rare role of hero. Here's my tips for five steps to redemption:
1. Win tonight, and claim you did it for America and Perto Ricans. People are nationalistic sons of bitches deep down, and love that sort of stuff.
2. Lose the hugging. John dropped it for the Toney fight (humiliatingly being told "very good" by the referee every time he went against his nature) and put on a much better than expected bout. He still didn't look pretty, but the hugging has to go. Louise has to find another way to win.
3. Boost your public persona. We all saw what happened when Louise speaks at the Toney-Louise press conference. It wasn't pretty, though he did get a nice (unintentionally prophetic) line about Toney being the result of drugs. "I'm the best, you know... I'm the best." By his side Louise has a cantankerous foul-mouth who loves nothing more to provoke other people until he gets beaten up. With the right backing, Stoney should be a star... and he can pick Louise up with him as a double-act.
4. Unify. Not as strange as it may sound. Byrd's getting increasingly slow and ready to be defeathered... Louise already has a win over Rahman should he prevail, and the fight with Toney wasn't the one-sided shutout most try and claim it was. Brewster's a problem, but despite a very good 2005, he's still an unproven quantity. Purely in terms of records, there's no one better with a belt currently than Louise.
5. Cement the legacy with three more good mandatories and get out. People can knock his style all they want - asthetically, he makes Chris Byrd look like the most exciting fighter on the planet - but you can't fault his record. He had two SD losses in his first twenty learning bouts (when he was 18 wins, with 11 KOs), and got caught cold by a prime David Tua. Anyone can get caught, and while his chin perhaps isn't the greatest, the fact that that's his only stoppage loss in 48 bouts says something. The historical fact that only three former middleweights have been able to take the heavyweight crown and two were with Louise (now one, due to the fact that one was juiced) takes away that the two middles in question were exceptional HOFs and Louise isn't a particularly big heavyweight. People talk about Byrd, but Louise also gives away weight and height in many of his bouts, and is always willing to step up. I give the guy credit for his balls, and his willingness to carry on even in the face of unheralded adversity. Merry Christmas Louise.
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