Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua vs. Andrés Ponce Ruiz Jr. RBR

Just had to re-quote this. Hindsight is a magnificent thing.

 

I was just perplexed as to why Joshua wasn’t working Ruiz’ body. If he can do that in the rematch, keep his range and learn to tie up/move when he is in trouble then he can win the rematch.
I think Ruiz is a bad style for him, I favour Ruiz strongly in the rematch. This fight hasn’t changed how I view Joshua against Wilder/Fury. Those are still 50/50 fights. What has changed is that I’m sure Usyk would beat Joshua now, before I thought it was likely.

 

In the early rounds I said to myself "If I was Joshua I would have digged in a hard right hand to the body by now". When you got a guy in front of you carrying that kind of weight you really want to get in a body shot. but I think part of the problem was that AJ is so tall he's just not accustomed to having to dig down that low to get in a body shot.

 

If you repeat a lie over and over again you begin to believe it. Still giving it 'best heavyweight in the world' utter brass neck.

 

I agree.

Ruiz won and earned every bit of it, but people waiting are reacting exactly in the way that reinforces shoddy, padded matchmaking.

I also don't like how people are acting as though AJ is some sort of sham. Not only does it ignore that AJ has defeated good competition, but it cheapens Ruiz's accomplishments.

Let Andy have his day. That doesn't mean everything AJ accomplished to this point means jack. It's not a one or the other proposition.

 

I don’t think his height should be an excuse for not having that in his arsenal, the dip down and straight right to the body, or jab to the body should be tools that he uses regularly. They would also help him to be aware of his balance and bending his knees. He often stands up too straight like Wlad did, I’m sure his chin wouldn’t seem so fragile if he had a more solid base with bent knees.
It’s fine to fight tall if you keep range and you have a guy who can’t get on the inside. Ruiz isn’t that guy, he parries punches well, feints and throws combinations.
Joshua needs to discrourage him from coming in from both levels from the outside, not just head shots.

And the uppercut! I kept waiting for it and it never happened. That needed to be there every time Ruiz tried to get inside. Surely Joshua should’ve been training and thinking about the uppercut for Miller’s style.

 

He might not get a shot at those belts because Haymon is in control now and although Wilder claims he has two fights already contracted I think that he would be able to pay Ortiz step aside money to get a shot at Ruiz which I think he would win because unlike AJ, Wilder takes every fight serious and while his boxing skills are not above average he can straight out fight. His fighting instincts are like walking on the wild side. Joshua might get a rematch but Ruiz might not have the belts. At any rate he must beat Ruiz to be relevant or win his next three or four fights with brutal knockouts.

 

I don't know to what extent Joshua needs to work Ruiz's body in order to win a rematch. Ruiz is much shorter than his listed height and his body is about the most distant place Joshua could target from his vantage point. He can win the rematch provided he fights with his head and not his testicles. He needlessly kept a low guard against Ruiz. He needlessly proceeded gung-ho on Ruiz after the knockdown. He could have been much more methodical and broken Ruiz down over time. The pressure to match Wilder's defeat of Breazeale got to him perhaps.

 

Something tells me if Wlad was on the fence about a comeback before, this may be what brings him back

 

lol Sky sports commentators had a lot of vessels popped:

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Wlad didn’t have guys like Wilder, Fury, Ruiz, and Usyk around either.

 

Very difficult to bend down and work the body on a smaller fighter, especially when the smaller fighter is a much faster and significantly better boxer.

 

I think Joshua definitely felt the pressure to match Wilder. Ruiz isn’t Breazeale though.
I just picture a Floyd style jab to Ruiz’ body every time he comes in, that isn’t a moving target. That would slow him down if done regularly in a disciplined manner, and that would lower Ruiz’ hands for something upstairs.
I think Joshua needs to forget about looking impressive in the rematch, he needs to win a safe, disciplined fight.

 

Ruiz isn’t a fleet footed guy, and no matter how good his movement is that target straight down the middle to his body doesn’t move around.

 

As has been explained that's a punch that is a lot harder to throw than it is to type about.