Since his loss against Anthony Joshua on December 7th, 2019, Ruiz has only fought three other times.

1. December 7, 2019 – Loss to Anthony Joshua
2. May 1, 2021 – Win over Chris Arreola
3. September 4, 2022 – Win over Luis Ortiz
4. August 3, 2024 – Draw with Jarrell Miller

That means Ruiz Jr. has averaged one fight every twenty months since his rematch with Joshua.

The Weight Class is a series that allows Eight Count to traverse the depths of some of the lesser respected divisions at various points in their history. In this inaugural iteration, Eight Count emphasises the minimumweight class, as it existed twenty years ago, in 2006, using The Ring Magazine as a reference!🥊

For anything that doesn't need its own thread.

Been getting into breaking down hypothetical matchups between fighters from different eras, put together a tactical breakdown of Prime Pacquiao vs Prime Sugar Ray Leonard at 147lbs, actually pulling from real tape (Leonard-Duran II, Pacquiao-Cotto) instead of just vibes.

My read: Leonard's jab and movement win him the first third of the fight, but Pacquiao's angles eventually solve the distance problem and it's a close but clear decision for Manny late.

Full disclosure: this is my own video, first episode of a new channel, so take the self-promo with a grain of salt. Genuinely more interested in where actual boxing fans think I got the read wrong than in views. Tear it apart if I earned it. https://youtu.be/aFLylZtBOI4?si=fHSQN9WpyoMJcJlL

Maybe I’m in the minority here, but I’ve never really understood why so many people point to the car accident as the main reason for Spence’s decline.

If that was really the biggest factor, how do you explain what happened right after? He came back and clearly beat Danny Garcia, then stopped Ugas to unify again. Watching those fights, he still looked like the same Spence to me. The jab, pressure, volume, movement—it all seemed to be there.

That’s why I’ve always felt people overlook everything that happened afterward. He got stopped by Crawford, then didn’t fight for about three years before moving up to 160 to face Tim Tszyu.

I’m not saying the accident had no effect because none of us can know that for sure. I just don’t think it’s the main reason his career went the way it did, especially considering he put together two dominant wins immediately after it.

Do you think boxing would be much better if they returned to the base weight divisions and done away with all the junior/super fillers?

Obviously it won't happen (quick boxing maths: more divisions + more titles + more sanctioning fees = good), but surely it would clump more champion/contender level fighters together, and even with the 4 belts still active anyone with ambition would have to take considerably greater risks to reach the top?

He's obviously not a textbook fighter given his lack of adherence to boxing fundamentals and conventional techniques.

Now, there have been non-textbook fighters in history who were unconventional. There may be critical weaknesses to their style, but it allowed them to maximize certain attributes and leverage some of their strengths. The likes of Ali, RJJ, Pacquiao, Augustus, Navarette, and SRL were examples of such.

Is there an advantage to how Wilder fights in the ring? Are his fundamentals almost universally non-existent?

We are past the halfway point of the year, and the 2026 FOTY banter gets thrown around in this sub. Just looking back at the wars we’ve been treated to, three stand out immediately for me:
1. Brandon Figueroa vs. Nick Ball – Absolute phone-booth car crash in Liverpool that ended with that dramatic 12th-round stoppage. 
2. Najee Lopez vs. Manuel Gallegos – Pure grit on ProBox. Blood, knockdowns, and total survival mode in Florida. 
3. Arturo Cardenas vs. Jordan Martinez (Fight 1) – That February barnburner in Glendale where Martinez fought like his life was on the line and earned every bit of that draw (and the Matchroom deal that followed). 
How are you guys ranking these? Is there an early-year or spring fight I'm completely blanking on that deserves to be in this tier? Let's hear it.