Five months have passed since Andy Ruiz Jr. shocked the boxing world by taking four heavyweight title belts away from previously undefeated Anthony Joshua, and a debate has raged ever since over who wins the rematch.
Expert analysts John J. Raspanti and Rizwaan Zahid dissect Saturday’s megafight — the mentality, the weight debate, the skill, speed, power, and chin of both fighters, and other aspects of an intriguing match-up.
Raspanti and Zahid also discuss Oscar Valdez’s struggle with last-minute opponent Adam Lopez, John Riel Casimero’s stunning knockout victory over much larger, much longer Zolani Tete to become a three-division world champ at age 40.
And they weigh the three finalists on Manny Pacquiao’s short list — Danny Garcia, Mikey Garcia, and Shawn Porter — and tell us who’s likely to get the fight, and which match-up is best.
Then we meet slow-talkin’ Texan Gene “Mad Dog” Hatcher, a deep-fried character who won the WBA’s super lightweight crown in 1984 with an 11th-round KO of Johnny “Bump City” Bumphis, a 4-1 betting favorite.
“Mad Dog” regales us with multiple colorful stories from a 14-year career that included battles with Aaron “Superman” Davis, Frankie Warren, Lloyd Honeyghan, Alfredo Escalera, Ubaldo Sacco and others, and also tells us the chilling tale of how close he came to suicide after his star faded.
Dennis Taylor is hot of The Ringside Boxing Show, editor/publisher of www.ringsideboxingshow.com, and co-author (with John J. Raspanti) of “Intimate Warfare: The True Story of the Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward Boxing Trilogy,” an Amazon bestseller.
