Donovan "Razor" Ruddock (born December 21, 1963) is a Jamaican-born Canadian former

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

who competed from 1982 to 2001 and in 2015. He is known for his two fights against

Mike Tyson Michael Gerard Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 2005. Nicknamed "Iron Mike" and "Kid Dynamite" in his early career, and later known as "The Baddest Man on the Planet", Tyson is con ...

in 1991, a fight against

Lennox Lewis Lennox Claudius Lewis (born 2 September 1965) is a former professional boxer and boxing commentator who competed from 1989 to 2003. He is a three-time world heavyweight champion, a two-time lineal champion, and the last heavyweight to hol ...

in 1992, and a fight with Tommy Morrison in 1995. Ruddock was also known for his exceptionally heavy punching; one of the best examples of his left hand power was his

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving strikin ...

of former WBA heavyweight champion Michael Dokes in 1990. His favoured weapon at the ring proved to be a highly versatile half-hook, half-uppercut left-handed punch he called "''The Smash''" which accounted for the majority of his knockout wins -- it also happened to be his major downside throughout his career. Being a left-handed puncher fighting out of the orthodox stance, he didn't throw a single right hand during most knockout flurries.

Professional career

Early years

Ruddock was born in St. Catherine, Jamaica. At age 11, he left Jamaica with his family and moved to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, settling in the city's Weston neighbourhood. Ruddock attended Emery Collegiate Institute and

Westview Centennial Secondary School Westview Centennial Secondary School (Westview Centennial SS, WCSS, or Westview in short) is a semestered public high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It has a student body of about 920 students located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada under the sa ...

, when he was a teenager. As an amateur boxer, Ruddock had a win over

in March 1980 in Toronto at the Ontario Junior Boxing Championship, winning via a

split decision A split decision (SD) is a winning criterion in boxing, most commonly in full-contact combat sports, in which two of the three judges score one particular competitor as the winner, while the third judge scores for the other competitor. A split dec ...

(3:2) in the 75 kg weight class (165 lbs). He turned pro in 1982, but his career started slowly, having only 11 fights between 1982 and 1985. He won eight of his first nine fights, but drew his fifth. More controversy would follow in April 1985 when he lost to journeyman David Jaco, who would be KO'd by a young

the next year. After eight rounds Ruddock's corner threw in the towel when he complained of breathing problems. Jaco was awarded a TKO victory. It was discovered Ruddock had a rare respiratory illness and doctors told him his career would be over.

Return to the ring

After taking 10 months off after rehabilitation Ruddock made a full recovery to the doctors' surprise and resumed his boxing career winning 9 straight fights, 8 of them by KO also picking up an impressive decision win over former WBA heavyweight title-holder Mike Weaver before winning the Canadian heavyweight championship by a first-round knockout against Ken Lakusta in 1988. In 1989, after two more wins by KO, a fight with another former WBA heavyweight title-holder was made, against the hard-hitting James "Bonecrusher" Smith. In the round 2, Ruddock was floored heavily by Smith but showed his heart by getting up, coming back in the round, and impressively knocking out Smith in round 7. A title bout was made with undisputed heavyweight champion

, scheduled for November 1989 in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city an ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest T ...

. Tyson, claiming illness, cancelled and opted instead to fight James "Buster" Douglas in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

. Tyson would go on to lose in one of the biggest upsets in boxing history.

Ruddock vs Dokes

In 1990, Ruddock fought former heavyweight champion Michael Dokes. Ruddock went into the fight as underdog but put on one of the best performances of his career knocking out Dokes in the 4th round. Dokes appeared to be seriously stunned on the ropes after taking Ruddock's famous "Smash" left hook. A right hand followed, which appeared to put Dokes out, but Ruddock threw another two hooks to knock Dokes out cold for several minutes.

Difficulty finding opponents

After another KO win over Kimmuel Odum in 1990, Ruddock had difficulty finding a marquee opponent. Ruddock hoped to fight

Evander Holyfield Evander Holyfield (born October 19, 1962) is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1984 and 2011. He reigned as the Undisputed championship (boxing), undisputed champion at cruiserweight (boxing), cruiserweight in the late 1 ...

(fresh from a KO win over James "Buster" Douglas for the heavyweight championship). Instead, Holyfield opted to fight 42-year-old

George Foreman George Edward Foreman (born January 10, 1949) is an American former professional boxer, entrepreneur, minister and author. In boxing, he was nicknamed "Big George" and competed between 1967 and 1997. He is a two-time world heavyweight champi ...

Mike Tyson

With no big name opponent, Ruddock took a warm up fight against Mike Rouse in December 1990 winning by 1st round knockout. In January 1991, Mike Tyson accepted Ruddock's challenge and fight was scheduled for March 18. It would pit Tyson, the number #1 contender, against Ruddock who was number #2, for the right to fight the winner of Holyfield-Foreman. Ruddock was dropped in round three but fought back until referee

Richard Steele Sir Richard Steele (bap. 12 March 1672 – 1 September 1729) was an Anglo-Irish writer, playwright, and politician, remembered as co-founder, with his friend Joseph Addison, of the magazine ''The Spectator''. Early life Steele was born in D ...

stopped the fight in Tyson's favor during round 7. Some fans were unhappy with the decision and fights erupted in the stadium. Steele had to be escorted out of the ring after the angry protests. A rematch was held June 28, 1991 and lasted a full 12 rounds. Tyson knocked Ruddock down twice during the bout, and won by unanimous decision. Both fighters were injured; Ruddock had a broken jaw and Tyson suffered a perforated eardrum. ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence tw ...

'' reported that Ruddock's jaw may have been broken as early as the fourth round. Tyson was magnanimous after his triumph, praising Ruddock as a great heavyweight: "Man this guy is tough, he'll be champion of the world one day if he stays dedicated and doesn't slip up."

After Tyson

After losing to Tyson for the second time, Ruddock picked up victories over former heavyweight champion Greg Page and got a win over undefeated hope

Phil Jackson Philip Douglas Jackson (born September 17, 1945) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive. A power forward, Jackson played 12 seasons in the NBA, winning NBA championships with the New York Knicks in 1970 a ...

; both fights again were won by KO. Those victories set up a bout with

in London on Halloween 1992. The bout was an official WBC Final Eliminator and seen as an elimination bout for the opportunity to face the winner of the upcoming Bowe - Holyfield match. Ruddock was knocked out in the second round. After more than two years out after the Lewis defeat Ruddock came back in 1994 with a points win over Anthony Wade which led to a fight with Tommy Morrison in 1995. In the first round he put Morrison down, but let the opportunity for an early stoppage slip, and was given a count himself in the second round after grabbing the ropes after being caught by a Morrison uppercut. Again, like the first Tyson fight, Ruddock was controversially stopped on his feet in the 6th round.

Comeback

After the loss to Morrison, Ruddock disappeared for 3 years until he returned once again in 1998. Ruddock was scheduled to challenge

Vitali Klitschko Vitali Volodymyrovych Klitschko (; uk, Віта́лій Володи́мирович Кличко́ ; born 19 July 1971) is a Ukrainian politician and former professional boxer who serves as mayor of KyivEgerton Marcus in October 2001, then retired with a record of 38 wins (28 KOs), 5 losses and 1 draw. On March 28, 2015, Ruddock returned to the ring with a fifth round knockout win over Raymond Olubowale and scored a 6 round majority points decision over Eric Barrak two months later, but was defeated by 3 round KO by Dillon Carman on September 11, 2015 in a bid for the Canadian heavyweight title.

Legacy

Ruddock was ranked 70th on ''The Ring'' magazine's list of "The 100 Greatest Punchers of All-Time".

Life after boxing

In the late 1990s, Ruddock had filed for bankruptcy as a number of failed investments, including $1 million that he lost when his

Fort Lauderdale A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facer ...

nightclub "Razor's Palace" went under; had left him cash poor. A contract dispute ruined a close relationship with his brother and former manager, Delroy. In 2006, Ruddock invented a non-electrical garbage compactor called The Boxer which he hoped would become a success. Ruddock marketed the device he designed one day after becoming increasingly frustrated with the amount of waste his family was collecting, and sold it from his website Razorruddock.com. As of November 2013, the site is no longer online and the product is listed on Amazon as unavailable with no indication for future availability.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

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Donovan "Razor" Ruddock – A Comeback Without a ConclusionTV Commercial for "The Boxer"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruddock, Donovan 1963 births Living people 21st-century Canadian inventors Black Canadian boxers Boxers from Toronto Boxing people from Ontario Canadian male boxers Heavyweight boxers Jamaican emigrants to Canada Jamaican male boxers People from Weston, Toronto People from Saint Catherine Parish