I fought Tommy Morrison, Lennox Lewis KO'd me but Mike Tyson hits like sub-machine gun and James 'Bonecrusher' Smith's punches felt like an earthquake

Donovan 'Razor' Ruddock faced most of the top heavyweights of the 1990s.

The 59-year-old, who is still active in exhibition bouts to this day, fought heavyweight titans like Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis when in his prime as a contender 30 years ago.

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As a teenage amateur, Ruddock picked up arguably his most notable victory as he beat Lewis at the Ontario Junior Boxing Championships in March 1980.

“I wasn’t supposed to beat him, but I knew I was going to win,” Ruddock told Ring Magazine.

"We didn’t get a lot of attention. It was amateur and we were young."

Upon turning professional, things did not instantly go to plan for the Canadian, who was 9–1–1 after his first 11 fights.

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Following a 16-fight win streak though - which included a KO victory over James 'Bonecrusher' Smith - he earned his way up to a fight with Tyson in 1991.

Ruddock was initially supposed to challenge 'Iron Mike' when he was the undisputed heavyweight world champion in 1989, but ended up facing him when he was on the comeback trail after his shock loss to to James 'Buster' Douglas in 1990.

“It was an experience fighting Mike Tyson the first time,” he said.

“When you walk in the ring it’s like going into hell and seeing the devil.

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“I knew that the odds were against me. He had [promoter] Don King, the ref, he had everyone there. Tyson’s strength was stopping you on the ropes and beating the crap out of you.

“What he did, he stepped on my toe and hit me and they called it a knockdown. I waved at [referee] Richard Steele, I had my hands up, Richard Steele turned his back on me, grabbed Tyson and waved the fight off."

The finish was indeed controversial and led to a rematch three months later.

Ruddock recalled: "He was devastating, he was knocking everyone out in the first round, and because I stood up, people respected me.

“The second fight, I bust his eardrum and he still came at me. He broke my jaw and we still went 12 rounds.”

After two comeback wins, Ruddock flew to the UK to face Lewis, 12 years on from their amateur showdown.

“They called me in the middle of my vacation and asked me if I wanted to fight Lennox Lewis,” explained Ruddock.

“I said, ‘No.’ I wasn’t ready for this because I’m trying to relax.

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"My brother said, ‘It’s a $2million dollar fight.’ We don’t get $2million, at that time, so rapidly from anyone.

“So we went into training. I was number one in the world and they wanted to get that position. They decided to sweeten the path. They put me on a concord to take me to London and paid me a lot of money.

“I knew I could have beat Lennox. I used to spar with him every week. I knew I could go over there and deal with him, but it didn’t work out that way. There’s reasons I don’t want to discuss.”

Ruddock was stopped in two rounds and did not return for more than a year.

When he did come back with a win, he then took on the hard hitting Tommy Morrison in June 1995, but was again knocked out, this time in round six.

“You can’t take nothing from away Tommy. He’s very strong, his punches are very strong, he hit hard," Ruddock admitted.

"He reminds me of Tyson, similar style and power as Tyson. I put him down with an uppercut and went in too fast to finish him.

"I went in carelessly and got clipped. That’s the way it is – he caught me with a good left hook.”

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The Morrison win was Ruddock's last big fight as a professional in his pomp.

Reflecting on his strongest foes, he named 'Bonecrusher' Smith as the surprise frontrunner.

"At the weigh in, I tried to feel his strength," Ruddock recalled. "I leaned on him and it was like leaning on a wall.

"He was f***ing unbelievably strong. He was terrifying and embodied what it meant to be a slugger.

"Bonecrusher would punch through you. I tell you, when he punched me it felt like an earthquake. Every inch of your body felt that power."

At the end of it all though, Ruddock confirmed Tyson was the most powerful of anyone he fought.

He concluded: "Morrison had a very good left hook - he caught me and dropped me.

"Lennox is a strong puncher. Mike Weaver’s punch was a single-punch that would be a devastating knockout.

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"But Tyson’s punch was a series of powerful punches, like a submachine gun looking to annihilate you. Tyson has a punch to remember."

Tyson eventually regained the WBC and WBA heavyweight titles by beating Frank Bruno and Bruce Seldon respectively in 1996, a year after his release from prison but he was never the same and lost twice to Holyfield and later Lewis.

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