Razor Ruddock: Is He Still As Sharp As He Thinks He Is?
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Razor Ruddock: Is He Still As Sharp As He Thinks He Is? By Joseph “The Mad Boxing Genius” Torres, Doghouse Boxing (March 27, 2015) TweetFollow @DoghouseBoxing
For some, growing old and letting nature takes its course is just fine. There’s a time to be young and in your prime and there’s a time to get old, relax and enjoy the fruits of your labor. But, there’s a whole lot of people who are constantly looking for ways to defy the aging process.
Whether it’s the hottest anti-aging face cream of the stars, the newest patented vitamin supplement that is revolutionizing health, or the latest diet fad, people are always looking for ways to stay younger, be stronger, do more and simply live longer. Why? Because they still want to do things - great things that they weren’t able to do or achieve before.
This coming Saturday night, we have the perfect example of someone wanting to push back the clock and do great things.
Donovan “Razor” Ruddock, the former top heavyweight contender from the late 80’s and early 90’s, the man whom a primed Mike Tyson said, “He punches like a f****** mule kick!”, is coming back at the age of 51.
His goal?
To become the oldest heavyweight champion in history – surpassing George Foreman’s mark of 45 years young.
Now, this writer has several doctors in his family – both in western and alternative medicine so I have a pretty good and diverse range of professional opinions at my disposal. And I wholeheartedly believe in rejuvenation and how incredibly hard and long one can push the human body.
But, at some point logic has to take over.
Now, boxing isn’t the best sport to support my case. There have been several times where logic has been defied.
How many of us thought Buster Douglas, a little bit better than a journeyman at the time, would have knocked out Mike Tyson? How many of us can intelligently argue that Evander Holyfield drew against Lennox Lewis in their first effort to unify all the titles? How many of us thought that the old warrior in Bernard Hopkins would have decisively beaten young, proven and in their prime fighters like Antonio Tarver, Kelly Pavlik and Jean Pascal?
Not many.
But if the history of this sport has taught us anything, is that logic although can be defied… it cannot be denied!
Bernard Hopkins learned that as amazing he is at 49, he wasn’t leaving the victor in his match with the much bigger, stronger and younger Sergey Kovalev. Or more recently, logic eventually prevailed after six long years when the Floyd Mayweather–Manny Pacquiao super fight was officially made. For years that fight went unmade defying the logic that the two absolute best in the sport and with a 100 million dollar price tag should get it on.
On Saturday night, Ruddock is scheduled to face Raymond Olubowale - a man who is clearly there to be nothing more than a “re-introduction” to the sport for the one time contender, as he sports a record of 10-6-1 (7KO’s) and is no spring chicken himself at age 44.
This is the first step in claiming a championship that’s eluded him his entire career.
Now, the question. Is this just another pipe dream for a once world class fighter who can’t get the sport he loves out of his system?
Or are we on the verge of seeing something special? Can Razor Ruddock do in his fifties what he couldn’t do in his twenties or his thirties?
Saturday probably won’t give us many answers. But eventually, we’ll find out. We always do.
