After the first knockdown Ruiz was on the floor but sat up, hands behind him and had his wits about him, ready to get up. AJ jumped on him again but Ruiz was more than equal.
Just watched it back. Joshua won rounds 2 and 5. What struck me was his disdain for Rob McCracken’s instructions at the end of round 2. Telling Rob what he should be doing and then when Rob said to throw the odd lead left hook AJ responds “I just said that”. Don’t know if he always does that but can’t remember that happening previously. Round 7, having been told keep it long and to only throw the uppercut left hook on the inside, he immediately goes for a huge lead left hook. Though by then he didn’t seem to know where he was in the corner, genuinely seemed high as a kite. @Twentyman good call on the nose, he was looking at it and dabbing it during the fight. Round 3 he did rush in and get countered with a big hook. He can learn from that and not get caught so easily and cleanly again. Ruiz will be confident though. It’s going to be a tough fight for AJ. He needs to systematically break him up, Ruiz is tough and isn’t naive enough to be knocked out by one big shot, looking for those will just make AJ vulnerable. Still fancy Ruiz to stop him again but do see a way for AJ to win. It does remind me a lot of the Price vs Thompson fight in many ways. Call me crazy but could he just try and rough Ruiz up on the inside? If he’s smothering Ruiz then it’s harder for him to get the leverage and space to counter with quick, hard shots and he can use his uppercut left hook on the inside. Push him down a la Haye vs Klitschko. Though not sure AJ has the stamina to fight that way...
Sadly, my money will be on Ruiz by KO again. I will walk down to the bookies on the morning of the fight, like the good old days and stick £50 on whichever rounds give me the best odds , althought it will be somewhere between 6-9 I reckon.
The problem for this fight is that Ruiz is a stylistic nightmare for Joshua. Even in the amatuers he struggled with smaller guys with fast hands. You've got to look at the ways to win for AJ to see that he's in trouble - if he trys and keeps things long and box, you question whether a) AJ can keep disciplined for 12 rounds which he hasn't shown before, b) question if AJ has the engine, speed and IQ to dance around and actually pull it off and c) believe that Ruiz won't be able to let his fast hands go at least a few times. The other way you'd potential back AJ is if he plodded forward and overpowered Ruiz. You'd think this is unlikely, given that Ruiz has the faster hands and a good chin, all he has to do is throw at the same time at AJ and you'd think he'd get his shots off first and hurt him again. I'm personally picking AJ to win a stinker. Try and box and move and as soon as that doesn't work, tie up Ruiz and potentially some dirty shots such as hitting and holding and punching on the break. Think that AJ will be allowed to get away with a lot of it and the judges are likely to favour him. AJ by decision at 4/1 is a good bet.
Listened to a Hearn interview yesterday and he was saying "If AJ wins, he is the ****ing king" and all sorts of stuff like that. Now listen, if AJ does win I'll be the first on here saying it was a brilliant win and performance. To come back mentally and win an immediate rematch will be amazing. However, sky and Hearn will go way over the top. At the end of the day, it's Andy Ruiz he'll have beaten. Andy Ruiz who had a close fight with Joseph Parker and didn't get the cards. AJ himself will have two, possibly three better wins on his resume than Ruiz. AJ needs a win over Wilder or Fury to cement the legacy. Wilder or Fury will have a win over the other before February is out. The Parker's, 39 year old Povetkin's and Andy Ruiz's of this world are a long way behind Wilder and Fury.
Exactly. The whole experience puts him in a great place moving forward. But moving forward he needs that big win. And by big win I mean a win over an elite guy who isn't old. The winner of Fury/Wilder is the perfect opponent to go and cement that legacy.
I get what you're saying but majority of the posters in General and British forums are picking Ruiz, saying he's a bad match up and a stylistic nightmare for AJ. No matter how he wins they're going to have to give him credit. But I agree in general view of things beating Ruiz is not a great achievement.
It appears to me that AJ looks extremely stressed out..even a week out IMO he does not look or act confident , I could be wrong. Boxing is 80% mental and 20% physical and I just feel that he is simply overwhelmed by the whole thing.....if in fact he is all stressed out from the pressure now he will be in total panic mode once the first punch lands on him.on fight night....he will crumble quicker this time around if that is the case. IMO, AJ is not a natural fighter but Ruiz is and IMO thi is Ruiz's fight to loose not AJ's to win ......if Ruiz shows up in the same state of mind , physically and mentally like in the first fight its over for AJ . It is heavyweights and I could be right or could be wrong.