Ruiz Stops Tisdale

One time heavyweight champion John Ruiz (42-7-1, 29 KOs) won an impressive two round knockout over Otis Tisdale on Saturday night at the Sears Centre, in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Ruiz, ranked #3 in the WBA, showing a new offensive-minded fighting style - minus his usual clinching - knocked Tisdale down twice in the first round and once in the 2nd, before the referee Pete Podgorsk moved in and stopped the bout at 0:45 of the 2nd round. Ruiz, 35, was all action in the bout, using massive uppercuts, hooks, movement and a powerful right hand to control virtually every second of the bout with the out-gunned Tisdale.

Orginally scheduled to fight Sergei Liakhovich, but when he backed out of the fight a week before the bout, Ruiz was forced to take on the Journeyman Tisdale as a last minute replacement. As it turns out, this perhaps was even better for Ruiz, mainly because it allowed him to work out the kinks in his new offensive attack. As it was, Ruiz looked nothing short of sensational against the limited Tisdale, possibly good enough to beat Liakhovich handily had he opted to fight Ruiz.

In the second round, Tisdale attempted to jab, trying to keep Ruiz at a distance. It didn’t work, as Ruiz quickly closed the distance and resumed throwing combinations at close quarters. After landing a handful of hard hooks, Ruiz suddently landed a picture perfect right hand shot, stunning Tisdale, and then finished him off with a beautiful left hook that sent Tisdale down for the third time in the bout. Instead of allowing it to continue, the referee Pete Podgorsk moved in and halted the action at 0:45 of the 2nd round.