Comments Thread For: Andy Ruiz: After Beating Joshua, I'll Talk To Sulaiman About Wilder

[NachoMan]

The lineage of every title starts somewhere. You can trace Canelo’s MW title back to Bernard Hopkins. But who did X beat for it?

Nothing at all makes sense about the notion of a lineal champ, particularly in an era when there are 4-5 recognized belts. As I said before, there is no true lineal champ in any division in boxing. Champions vacate, retire, get stripped, etc. In no division is there a current world champion who can trace his title back to the first recognized champion in his division. The MW division, in fact, is probably one of the the divisions with the least-traceable championship lineage.

To answer your question, Bernard Hopkins had been IBF MW champ since the mid-90's but wasn't considered the true/unified champ until 2001 when he beat Felix Trinidad (who won his WBA belt against the unspectacular Wiliam Joppy). None of these guys have any link at all to Sugar Ray Robinson, Harry Greb, Stanley Ketchel, Bob Fitzsimmons, Nonpareil Jack Dempsey...

The lineal title is not a real thing. What else can I say to change your mind about it?

[lowblows420]

Pretty sure fluffy Ruiz jr gets his blow straight from El Chapo. Check those Snickers bars vada

[Shadoww702]

I’m being saying since the Ruiz fight that AJ needs to hire Jonathan Banks. That’s the closest thing we have to Manny Stewart who helped LL and Wladimir fight around their suspect beards. That said, I think LL was a much better fighter than both Wlad and AJ. And Wlad was fortunate to fight in possibly the weakest era of heavyweight boxing ever. AJ has to deal with fellow super heavyweights that can fight. Neither LL or Wlad had to deal with that in their respective primes.

I still to this day remember how many times Lewis grabbed and put all his weight on Tyson. The Ref. let Tyson fight the entire fight with 250 lbs on his back...

Manny knew the best thing against a fighter is rounds and jumping on their back until they are worn down.

[hitking]

Nothing at all makes sense about the notion of a lineal champ, particularly in an era when there are 4-5 recognized belts. As I said before, there is no true lineal champ in any division in boxing. Champions vacate, retire, get stripped, etc. In no division is there a current world champion who can trace his title back to the first recognized champion in his division. The MW division, in fact, is probably one of the the divisions with the least-traceable championship lineage.

To answer your question, Bernard Hopkins had been IBF MW champ since the mid-90's but wasn't considered the true/unified champ until 2001 when he beat Felix Trinidad (who won his WBA belt against the unspectacular Wiliam Joppy). None of these guys have any link at all to Sugar Ray Robinson, Harry Greb, Stanley Ketchel, Bob Fitzsimmons, Nonpareil Jack Dempsey...

The lineal title is not a real thing. What else can I say to change your mind about it?

I personally like the lineal title because of all the BS belts floating around. And generally, the lineal title lines up with who’s seen as the top guy in the division. But like anything else, the lineal title has its faults. The biggest one being there’s no way to enforce or mandate defenses. So there are times where title is reduced to being meaningless. That’s why to me, titles aren’t that important. Whether it be the lineal title, The Ring magazine title, or one of the ABC trinkets. I don’t need a belt to tell me who the best guys are. I’ve always felt that titles are only as meaningful as the fighter that’s holding them. The lineal title is no different.

[P4Pdunny]

I don’t think AJ’s focus or lack thereof had anything to do with the outcome of that fight. I just think AJ is chinny and got caught a couple times when he had Ruiz hurt. He also has stamina issues and didn’t have someone in front of his that let him off the hook when he was tired and hurt.

But at the end of the day, I think he’s better than Ruiz. I also think that what happen to him in the first fight is fixable. He basically got caught going for the kill. If he stays patient and uses his physical advantages, he should be fine in the rematch.

That's what I think, Ruiz got put down but he got up and looked steady and was a wounded animal. He beat AJ to the punch and the fight turned from there.

AJ should only finish when he knows his man is hurt.

[Zelda]

Ruiz should simply concentrate on the Joshua fight. Any "future planning" is just a distraction at this stage and will add to the pressure.

Most people still think Ruiz got a lucky break as Joshua wasn't up to the mark on that night. Only if he repeats it will people take him seriously. After all, it is his first win against a top-10 guy.