Where boxing comebacks are concerned, Donovan “Razor” Ruddock will not make the same mistake as Mike Tyson.
And he’s not even talking about biting Evander Holyfield.
“The problem with Tyson was he came back into the big fights too soon,” said Ruddock, after he obliterated Tony Bradham with a second-round knockout in the main event of Friday’s “Brawl at the Hall” at DePaul University.
“When Tyson was sharp, I don’t think Holyfield could have defeated him. But Tyson just had a couple fights and jumped right into Holyfield, so he wasn’t sharp. I’m going slowly, getting used to the ring and the fans, fighting in these smaller arenas.”
Ruddock used Bradham (6-5) for punching practice, knocking him down five times in the second round alone. The final knockdown came off a piercing right to the body.
“He had a hard head,” said the affable Ruddock, who improved to 30-5-1 with his 22nd knockout. “I hurt my hand on his head, so I had to start going to the body.”
The victory was the second on Ruddock’s comeback tour, following an April knockout of journeyman Brian Yates in Columbus, Ind. There were 400 fans watching in Indiana, and an estimated crowd of 1,500 at Alumni Hall.
Both totals were a far cry from his main-event battles against Tyson in Las Vegas or even his last fight against Tommy Morrison in 1995, as was his pay cut. Ruddock realizes there is no middle ground. In order to become a prime-time heavyweight again, he has to box away from the limelight for a while.
“I probably need two or three more of these fights to get ready,” Ruddock said. “But I’m doing the right things, training right. I have another thing going for me now, which is maturity.”
Promoter Dominic Pesoli’s six-fight card featured an interesting mix of near-champions and main-event fighters trying to battle their way back to glory. Aside from Ruddock, the winners all share Chicago as a home base.
Heavyweight Lee Roy Murphy (29-4) had a few preliminary comeback questions answered, knocking out Jerry Brown at 2 minutes 40 seconds of the fourth round.
It was the first fight in eight years for the former WBA cruiserweight champion and Olympian.
“I guess hard work really pays off,” said Murphy, who dropped close to 70 pounds during the past two years. “I’m still looking to get down to 210 because there’s talk of a light heavyweight division (197 to 209), which is something where I would be interested.”
Rocky Martinez, who took off nearly two years to attend to personal problems, won his third straight fight with a sixth-round TKO over Bob Butters. The lightweight had walked away from fighting after losing by decision in a 12-round championship bout in Portland, Maine.
“My goal is to keep pushing myself up in the rankings,” said Martinez, now 27-2.
Junior lightweight Johnny Lewus made the ultimate comeback, taking a four-round unanimous decision from Randy Reedy, his first fight after spending 18 weeks in Cook County boot camp following drug charges. But the lightning-quick Lewus (22-4), who has lost tough fights to flyweights Kennedy McKinney and Orlando Canizales, now believes he has his act together.
“I had a $22,000 payday in my last fight and lost it all,” the Bridgeport native said of his troubles. “But I have a second chance and I’m focused now.”
The fan favorite, Mike Dibenedetto, improved to 10-0 with an impressive second-round TKO of Jeff Elrod in his junior welterweight bout. Dibenedetto has his sights set on the lightweight title, but unlike the others, he is really just beginning.
