Haven't commented on the fight since it happened.....thought would wait for all the reactionist silliness to pass somewhat So here are my irrelevant thoughts.... Why was Ruiz such an underdog ? Whem he was announced as the opponent I felt he was AJs most dangerous opponent since Vlad . Ruiz had one close loss on away turf and a solid amateur background. I rated him above Takam , Whyte ( and way above the Whyte that fought Joshua, who them wasn't training and preparing the way he does now) and and old unjuiced Povetkin, and as for Braez I am still confused as to how he became WBC mandatory....he is awful I'm neither an AJ super fan or an AJ hater..... I respect that he did what he needed to do to get to where he was. But also he was half gifted gold medal which landed him the big Matchroom backing and Fury's stupidity lead to the world title falling into his lap. outside of Wilder he fought pretty much all the best opponents since winning the world title. BUT he is flawed....like all the top heavyweights. I didn't think he looked quite right before the fight but even if he was carrying an injury I don't think that physically effected him in the fight but maybe mentally. But end of the day he fought a more intelligent fighter who has a solid chin and got caught hard on temple then on top of the head and never recovered. Those quick hands killed him. Talk of AJ being finished is a joke though. When you look at the division you cant seriously say he is finished, he got fastracked to the top and earnt a load of cash in the process but that means he aint seasoned. I think he can beat Ruiz in a rematch but I make it a 60/40 in Ruiz favour. Ruiz could quite easily beat Wilder IF he can engage close before Wilder lands a bomb. It just makes me laugh that joshua losing to Ruiz means he is finished and wilder beating the terrible Brazeale makes him an ATG lol P.s. 12 months ago if AJ and wilder had fought I wpuld have rooted for Wilder. I'm a Brit but I like seeing underdogs upset the apple cart when the A side has had a smoother route to the riches. But now ibwpuld route for AJ if he can beat Ruiz in a rematch. Ideally I wanna see Fury beat Wilder and Ruiz beat AJ followed by a fatty unification !
Good points. I myself never said that AJ is finished. But If he lose the rematch then that meant he should retire...
I honestly think it’s a massive myth that he never recovered from the third round. Up until he took 3 real hard body shots at the end of the 6th he was in the fight and back to normal. Ruiz just bettered him on the night imo
In hindsight one of the most bizarre aspects of the entire crazy spectacle was the Joshua interview. He said how he wished it was Wilder that had got him rather than Ruiz. Who cares about who you get beaten by? I think it shows he viewed the Wilder fight as a highly probable loss. Strange mentality for the guy who was considered #1 in the world an hour earlier.
AJ took a sustained, physical, mental, and humiliating beating on the biggest stage of boxing. He was never dominating Ruiz and lost at every aspect of the fight—speed, power, boxing, slugging it out—and he was dropped 4X. There ain't no coming back. I feel bad for him as he seems to be a really nice guy.
Aside from his fast combos, Ruiz has a better chin than anyone suspected. You look at the first Joshua kd and he takes a whopping right hand without any concern before dropping Joshua. The 7th, Joshua throws another couple of meaty shots but all they do are spark Ruiz into life and make Joshua quit. Essentially Joshua can't over commit on this guy or he's going taste the canvas.
Probably because he would have gotten $$$$$$$$$$$$ and the L against Wilder rather than $$$$$$ and the TKO
Sure was. He did what we seldom see with heavyweights anymore---not acknowledge the punch. Reminded me of Foreman eating that nice short lefthook from Cooney. George did not acknowledge it and continued to walk forward. But it was a nice short hook that landed clean. Most fighters stop and do the cover up thing. And there is like 1/10th of a second to make the decision. When stunned. Who else in the division eats that right hand after getting up from the first knockdown he'd ever suffered? Really really incredible and nobody seems to want to say how rare that kind of thing happens. And I think if he does not suck it up and goes ahead and responds differently, the potential to lose the bout is pretty high==there was a lot of time left in the round. If Ruiz backs up and tries to kill time on the ropes, I think Joshua wails away and lands a few shots and the ref jumps in and waves it off. all it takes is a little sweat to fly when playing 100% defense. Lots of guys say they counter and they fight back. But we really seldom see heavies that do it. And the beautiful thing was Joshua was on the deck himself after getting caught clean with those left hooks. It looked like a Sylvestor Stallone Rocky movie when you get right down to it. Fought back instead of trying to kill time. And having the mental capability to have the ability to make a terrific decision in a nano-second. So often we see opponents do the wrong thing and get stopped by the ref or naybe get back to their corner and get instructions from their trainer.
That sounded more like an apology to the fans for being unable to make the unification fight and him probably realising that it is now a long way off (if happening at all) rather than him preferring wilder to have got to him instead of Ruiz.
