Correct, it was a beatdown that exposed him for what many had said all along when his hypetrain was at full speed; a good fighter but not great who had been manufactured through being protected and smart matchmaking. This rematch will be going the same way as the first IMO.
Thanks for the compliment. Yeah, for this fight in particular the copyright was easily flagged, even though I put a filter. It sucks when they give them 30 days to respond.
This is the key for me as well. In the first two rounds, Joshua is doing alright on the outside, but he's not truly controlling the fight. I noticed (and tried to show) that even when he's just jabbing, Ruiz can time it and step in as Joshua pulls back. It's very tricky. I'm not sure if he has it in him to feint and mix it up constantly to avoid the counters coming back.
Isn't mid-range where he couldn't hang with Ruiz? When both were trading Ruiz constantly got the better of it. I don't think it's down to just one temple shot.
When Ruiz stands mid-range and waits, Joshua tagged him. Heck, in round 5 (2 rounds after the temple shot), Joshua won that round because Ruiz would wait mid-range and this gave Joshua a chance to tag him. Ruiz own trainer told him not to wait mid-range, keep it close. The temple shot is the shot that started it, prior to that, no punch from Ruiz hurt Joshua.
I see what you mean, he definitely can't just be static at mid range. He's best staying outside or jabbing his way in while Joshua pulls back. He can counter at mid-range but if he just hangs in the pocket Joshua gets his opportunities.
Sorry I didn't address this post earlier. The one thing that stood out to me is when you said "history is not on Ruiz's side". It definitely feels like even though Ruiz beat him fair and square, the narrative of boxing, the timeline, somehow won't allow it to happen a second time. Which is in total conflict with what I see when I watch tapes. It's not that I don't think Joshua can improve, but I see flaws in positioning that were there for a long, long time. Roach says "I don't look for mistakes, I look for habits." And that's totally correct when it comes to boxing. On bullet point 4, I'm not sure if getting hurt was really the reason Joshua lost. I feel like he always falls in at mid-range awkwardly. He's not disciplined and it's kind of bizarre looking back how often he trades with Ruiz at the totally wrong distance. He must have recovered some of his faculties during the quiet rounds after the knockdown and he was making the same mistake. I'm very interested in seeing what adjustments he made, because within the first fight he didn't seem to make any.
Great quote from Roach I really agree with that line of thinking And I dont necessarily think Joshua was hurt and stayed hurt but I think it resulted in him tiring, possibly panicking, the whole complexion of the fight changed. I agree that Joshua made no adjustments at all. My main thinking is can Joshua fight in a way that prevents a third round like exchange where he winds up in a safety first and boring fight where he doesnt have to make adjustments. I guess AJ adjusts to what he saw in fight 1 and forces Ruiz to adjust to his adjustments. Again I think Ruiz wins again but this is more so a back of my mind thought What do you think of the weights?
I'm torn on the weights. I've always been a proponent of AJ slimming down, but he might have lost too much mass. Looking back, Ruiz hurt him while standing up to his punches. That will only be easier this time around. The only way it really pays off is if Joshua truly transformed his style in such a way that this big weight loss will enable a dramatic increase in fluidity. I'm less confident of that the more I think on it. Ruiz might have an easier time imposing his will.
I don't think the extra weight of Ruiz is gonna do much help tonight. Could end up injured like Solis if he gets knocked down hard. Joshua coming in ultra light is really a question mark for me. He was blowing guys out left and right in 2 or 3 rounds when he was around 240lb. Matt Skelton and Sprott come to mind, although they were lesser fighters. Could be the best version of Joshua vs the worse version of Ruiz in there tonight. I think I'm gonna bet some money on Joshua down at the bookies.
