Comments Thread For: Joseph Parker Edges Andy Ruiz To Capture WBO Title

[KillaCamNZ]

For all the chatter about Ruiz losing pounds (and good on him), the points above about Ruiz gassing out are pretty spot on. He looked cooked in the second half.

[keith_head]

I debate the first point - one judge had it a draw, two didn't, and Parker won. A judges interpretation of what they see can be one hell of a variable. But regarding gameplan...

Everyone pretty much did as expected, Ruiz came forward looking to turn it into a short-handed scrap, whereas Parker kept distance and threw his jab at will. The fight really wasn't going to go any other way.

I'm not too sure what you mean by "you have to fight to your strengths". Parker did exactly that - his jab and his foot movement are his strengths. The most likely way Ruiz could have beaten Parker was to turn it into a flurry-fest inside - why would Parker even give him the opportunity? That would be allowing his opponents strength.

Parker could very well be overrated, absolutely. But for now, he's a champ and he's unbeaten with two good opponents on his record. AJ and Wilder combined, have 1.

He's on the right track.

In my opinion you have their strengths the wrong way around.

Andy Ruiz is a technically more skillful boxer than Joseph Parker. I'm a big Parker fan but this is pretty obvious from watching all of their fights. Sure, neither has good defense, but Ruiz is much better in the way he figures out ways to control the jab, sneaks in combinations and gets his own jab off against taller guys.

Parker's advantage in this fight was his physical size and strength. I disagree that he wasn't going to win in a slugfest. He's bigger and stronger than Andy Ruiz. A slugfest doesn't mean you have to be fighting on the inside. You can hit that mid-range that is Parker's absolute strength. Don't be ****** about things, but do aim to actually hit the guy. Parker barely threw a right hand. He should have, because his offense is his primary strength.

RE: Parker's jab - it's really lucky that the judges were awarding points for that jab. It was barely ever touching Ruiz and most of the time he was controlling it. It was hardly ever effective. I could argue that Ruiz' jab was actually more effective, despite his reach and height disadvantage. Again, this fight could have gone either way in the judges eyes. It was absolutely a 50/50 call by the time the bell went.

And I disagree that Parker is on the right track. He hasn't improved at all since the Takam fight.

Finally, I'm not sure why you're bringing up Wilder and Joshua. Parker could very well beat both of them. I'm talking about his own skill level though, not interested in comparisons.

[rudy]

Hahahaha you are a joke, he is fat but has better boxing skills and speed than thisn kiwi of ****.

He had so much skills and came back home with no title but the champion of Burger King who sponsored the show says it all

[NEETzsche]

One thing that's certain is that Parker had a much more educational 2016 than his counterparts like Joshua. The Takam and Ruiz wins may not have been pretty but the experience gained is basically invaluable. Not to mention that at age 24 and while clearly still a work in progress, Parker now probably has a top five resume in the division

He's obviously beatable, but so are his key rivals

[KillaCamNZ]

CompuBox numbers just came out - Parker 560 thrown-119 landed. Ruiz 416 thrown, 107 landed.

[TOBYLEE1]

Both guys were well trained and came prepared. Parker just simply had more in the tank but either got sloppy.

I gave Parker the edge, Ruiz faded and waited way to long for opportunities

[Boxing98]

He had so much skills and came back home with no title but the champion of Burger King who sponsored the show says it all

hehehehehehehe true