I was just watching the fight against Charles Martin earlier as a comparison with the Ruiz fight. His whole demeanour is different. He was bouncing around in his toes before the fight shadow boxing Vs looking like a state vs Ruiz. Secondly he comes out takes centre ring and actually puts his hands up, his jab looks pretty good not this firing from the hip lazy jab he had against Ruiz. But perhaps more telling is he looked less bulky, had a lot more spring in his step and his footwork is noticeably better. On top of that he looks sharp and explosive. I wonder if he was suffering from being very rusty against Ruiz, he hadn't fought for 9 months. He was just sluggish and sloppy. Looked bulky and Stiffer too Also I know he said in an interview he was working hard on building bigger Legs to cope with miller's size, is he actually bigger than he was 3-4 years ago or is it just an illusion. Is it possible he has peaked already physically and is on the decline already?
Spot on - definitely carrying too much bulk, to the detriment of his speed and movement - magnified against quick hands Ruiz. No doubt he be lighter for the rematch.
From the off AJ was pushed back by the much smaller man got dropped 4 times was being outpunched and finally had enough and quit...yup he got his ass kicked ...
He was winning the fight until he got reckless and gave ruiz a chance in a shoot out, i don't dispute he got his arse kicked in the end but it was not from the start.
One thing I noticed watching it back is in the past when AJ has hurt or knocked down opponents they go into a shell and he usually finishes them off. It was the opposite with Ruiz, every time AJ hurt Ruiz he fired back, when Ruiz got dropped he got back up and fired back I also agree though something wasn’t right behind closed doors with team AJ, all that asking for instructions at the end of each round and not really carrying it out
“He was winning the fight until he got ktfo” the most irrelevant piece of analysis there is One of the hallmarks of a casual fan is they think winning six rounds somehow outweighs getting ktfo in the seventh. See also “yeah bruv but kahan was totally outboxing fighter x,y,z until he got put to sleep again”
All 3 judges scored it like you. Maybe I just can’t score a fight properly but I had Ruiz winning at least 1 of the 2 rounds (round 1 mostly). I appreciate it’s irrelevant now though.
My original point was Joshua wasn't hammered from the first bell, he had the first bit of success in the fight. I wasn't really on about the scorecard.
I had to watch the fight again because the first time I was simply astonished and I thought mine eyes deceived me. I felt he looked calm before the fight, but almost to the point of listlessness. So when Hearn and the man himself say there were no issues, no pre-existing injuries, no panic attacks, I believe them. Beneath a veneer of immovable calmness and exaggerated geniality, Joshua is a very arrogant and vain man, and this disposition ultimately betrayed him, because he didn't respect the capabilities of his opponent. Even in the fight itself, whenever he had any success, he usually stood for a moment to admire his own work, as if he was a model and not a prizefighter. This was a direct consequence of the third and fatal knockdown. Simply put: so much of his nervous energy is now expended on impression management, on maintaining an image, that it has dulled his fighting instincts. He has become a spectator to his own fights, thinking only to out-do Wilder with an aesthetically pleasing knockout that will feature on YouTube highlights. It's the promotional situation of a superstar boxer in our time. When you become a brand in your own person you can't help but become dissociated from reality and think of yourself in the third person. It's not enough to win, but to be seen winning. And this is why a loss is proving so intractable for Joshua, because being a loser is not compatible with the signifiers of his brand profile.
When Joshua gets an opponent hurt he smiles at them or pokes his tongue out. He gave Ruiz a little smile just before Ruiz caught him with the hook. It could be argued that he has a bully mentality and couldn't cope when someone stood up to him.
It's boxing, two guys standing up to each other. I think the theories are all getting a little out of hand now, imagine the Tyson v Douglas and Lewis v Rahman fights in todays Internet mental world!
Not sure I’d immediately think of big iosh as a bully: chinny, robotic, no heart, no gastank but when you break it down further: Only fights at home Only fights smaller guys Likes feasting on shot/old/midgets DUCKS the top guys Cannot fight on the back foot He could certainly be described as a FLAT TRACK BULLY