Ruiz took 3 weeks off to do press and have a vacation, this is completely normal procedure for most boxers post-fight. He's already back in the gym and training.
Not at all what im saying. AJ should absolutely not "jump" on Ruiz as that is exactly how he got in trouble in the first fight. Forget about AJs power, AJ needs to control Ruiz at distance and try to win the fight by decision but if he does hurt Ruiz he shouldn't try to rush and finish but be careful not to rush in.
I think that if he does that (jumps on him early), AJ's chances are 50/50. The firefight after Ruiz got knocked down looked to be fairly even or maybe even going AJ's way until he got clipped. I also think that Ruiz's stamina is not that great (although slightly better than AJs). He faded after 6 rounds against Parker and he also needed plenty of time off during the AJ fight to recover. In my opinion, AJ was fighting correctly against Ruiz, right up until he prematurely went for the finish when he mistakenly believed Ruiz was hurt from the knock down. If he'd taken a bit more time and proceeded more cautiously, things may well have been different - and I believe that is what he should do in the rematch.
One of the stand-out moments of that fight was when Ruiz gets knocked down and the announcer says "AJ is a great finisher, watch this..." LOL
I wasn’t very clear in what I wrote, my bad. I know that’s not what you’re saying, I was just saying my opinion of how to approach it would be to test him early. I do see the flaws in that approach too, could spell disaster later. Sorry for the confusion and thank you for your input.
I saw the Ruiz v AJ fight much the same way, the 3rd round KD was a turning point caused by an overzealous AJ. But I also think it awakened a certain determination in Ruiz that I’m not sure AJ knows how to handle, fresh or not. Ruiz is skilled enough to make in fight adjustments, I’m not sure how well AJ does though, he’s still learning. I would have to rewatch the Parker fight to see the stamina issues, I honestly don’t remember it well enough to judge it, I don’t remember thinking it was an issue, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t. I do think AJ will make some adjustments that should cause Ruiz some issues, I’m sure much smarter than my suggestions, but Ruiz may have answers for those. It should be a great fight! Thank you for your insights, astute observations.
This is getting tiresome... AJ fought Ruiz at range in the beginning but Ruiz walked him down behind a high guard and forced AJ to hook up close like he does in every fight.....it played right into Ruiz's strength......despite getting knocked down he followed his game plan , stayed in AJ's wheel house and countered the Bodybuilder to death......as simple as that. Ruiz is physically and mentally stronger than AJ and got no quit in him..........AJ's chin and stamina are pure glass, you aint improving that in a few months......and I am also convinced that AJ's power is vastly over rated. AJ folded like a house of cards against the first fresh fighter he faced who came to win.......and Parker never showed up to win. The biggest obstacle for AJ will be his mental state of mind because in the first fight he literally stuck his head in the sand and ran for the exit, that quit job cannot be under estimated. I am convinced that the same demons will haunt AJ once Ruiz is right in his grill again......
Good points on tactics and Ruiz’s gameplan. I think other fighters showed up to win too though, albeit Parker I’m not sure because the ref got in the way. This loss reminds me of young Wlad, the confidence being his biggest issue. I credit Emmanuel Steward and Vitali for getting him back on track though. Idk if AJ has that in him or the right people around him to rebound like that though, we shall see. That said, a focused Ruiz will always cause AJ problems.
The thing is Lewis and Holyfield are ATGs while AJ isn't. Also I'm not sure Ruiz is a better boxer than Rahman. Rahman could box when he needed to. He outboxed Tua twice (in the first fight, the punch after the bell cost Rahnam the fight). I don't really see Ruiz out boxing Tua.
Two fights are nothing alike. Lennox was ahead in the first fight and acting a clown fool when Rahman caught him with a single shot. Lennox was enraged and embarrassed and completely destroyed Rahman in the rematch. Rahman was in celebration mode, but even if he was in hunger mode he was gonna get knocked out anyway. Andy beat up and outboxed Joshua in the first fight. Ruiz is a gym rat with muscle memory and Joshua made critical mistakes in their first fight which likely won't be corrected in the rematch. Ruiz doesn't have to change anything (and likely won't), he's not gonna come unraveled. He knows he can outbox and beat Joshua.
He's been showing off some pretty lavish purchases. 450k on a single car is madness IMO. He's not got that Canelo money yet.
Joshua didn't have the mental nor physical ability to get through trouble. If he had a veterans mindset and decent conditioning he could have fiddle ruiz about and sapped him over a few ugly rounds. I don't care what anyone says ruiz don't have 12 good rounds in him he's got 8, 9 at most. But Joshua's conditioning is **** and his mental game is awful, thick as two short planks.
