AJ's tactics for rematch vs RUIZ JR

Keep his high guard applied. Lateral movement, sticking his 1, 2 combo and keep circling. Wear the blob down in the later rounds. Aim to cut up the eyes. Lose some muscle. Get slimmer.

 

How fluid and agile is LL compared to AJ. Massive gap in talent.

 

Jab to the body like he did v Povetkin.

Straight punches, don't hook with an hooker.

High guard like he had when he moved close to put Ruiz down.

Plenty of double jabs.

 

Jeez, watching that just hits home how far away the current heavyweights are.

 

He has peaked and some people lack the brain power to learn new things besides his body is so mummified it would be hard for him. Can you not see he is trained to fight like his trainer, he is just a big version of McKracken who was an upright boxer. A style which will always be vunerable against an American style of boxing!

 

Also LL adjusted during this fight and eliminated the effectiveness of Tua's leaping left hook which was having a lot of success in the early rounds. Because AJ is robotic and manufactured I don't think he has the IQ to adjust to the reality of a tough fight. Things are fine when the game plan set out prior to the bout is working but when he needs to come up with his own Plan B in the heat of battle, he struggles.

 

People easily forget that Ruiz only had one month of training, in the rematch he will be more ready and he already gained a lot of confidence

 

I don't think Joshua needs to do or change a lot to beat Ruiz. Andy's feet are slow and the only times he caught Joshua were when Joshua opened up with combinations where Ruiz was doing a basic catch a counter. Joshua could have easily just carried on moving laterally and throwing the jab with conviction and pawing it out to force Ruiz to reset.

Joshua wasn't being forced into making mistakes because of anything Ruiz was doing, it was all on Joshua making unforced errors and the rematch is his to lose. I honestly don't think he needs to do much other than not get over zealous, BUT, at the same time something is clearly wrong with his stamina. He was close to 250 again and he's shown previously that it's not a weight he can fight effectively at, needs to lose some of that bulk.

 

he had a full camp against Dimitrenko then one week off before training for Joshua

 

In the past AJ has hurt or knocked down opponents and then gone in for the kill, he can’t do this with Ruiz, that was his downfall.
He has to be patient and work off the long jab, he has a 20cm reach advantage, use it ffs!
Don’t at any point get dragged into a brawl, it won’t end well
Listen and carry out mcrackens instructions

 

1) Jab to the body. Joshua's jab is average at best and Ruiz's defense was parrying or slipping every jab he threw upstairs with nonchalant ease, which was a huge part in his ability to successfully close the distance. Not only is it a guaranteed scoring shot against a high guard but the variety in the jab will be key in breaking down Andy's defense.

2) Throw tight lead right hands, tight enough so that his temple is tucked in behind his shoulder. If the jab to the body is doing it's job, lead right hands will eventually find the target, worst case scenario he hits Ruiz's forearms and tires them out.

3) Don't start swinging in wide hooks like a spastic the moment he gets a sniff of blood.

Even then, it may not be enough. I think Ruiz may just have Joshua's number. He was giving him the same fits Povetkin was, but is way faster and has the legs to do it for 12 rounds unlike old man Sasha.

 

Jab and grab like Wlad, and never think the fight is won until it's over, stay cautious even when Ruiz is hurt.

He's not going to reinvent himself into a 6' 6" Gene Tunney in a few months. He's just going to have to keep focused and keep it simple and boring.

 

He needs to throw everything...he knocked him down with the left hook .

Its not what AJ shouldn't throw its what coming back at him and positioning.

Joshua has the ability to really blitz anyone out of there and fast ,the punch that nearly landed again was an uppercut on the inside after the knockdown but he got caught instead missing a uppercut /hook combo.

If I was McCracken the simple adjustment would be circling while jabbing ( AJ was letting Ruiz hog the ring by going back ,he needs to at least clinch and drive him to the ropes) and have Ruiz eat a straight right /uppercut coming in. you cant let Ruiz dictate walking you back you habve to hook off jabs and move to set up a huge uppercut bc that's the shot that will set up the left hook ....and don't go on inside unless you have Ruiz wobbled .

Ruiz lunged a few times with the right hand from distance this is what he does and had to jump ,this is what Ruiz SHOULD have been forced to do the entire fight and AJ could have blasted him .the right hand that really hurt Aj in the 7th was in close bc he thought more hooks were coming. Joshua also needs to start using single uppercuts and not combos bc guys are timing his left hook after one.....

Ruiz wont win this fight if AJ circles around a STIFF jab away from Ruiz left side bc it will set everything up and stop Ruiz from setting up the left hook .

Ruiz can win if he again clips Joshua early ,if Aj does gamble and goes inside first its then who lands first and will Joshua guard me more aware ?

Joshua should win ,he got the knock down first and lasted a whole 7 while not fighting his fight. Its a very simple fight if AJ fights smart, my guess is he is a smart fighter and Ruiz is going to really have his hands full next time.and will get picked apart and stopped late by a cautious AJ.