The shot to the temple I just think completely rattled Joshua and he wasn’t himself after that. When he said in the corner “why am I feeling like this?” I think it’s because of that initial shot. Come on, he took a great shot off klitschko and recovered to win - this one was in a different spot.
Yes Lewis did get sparked twice and is probably the chinniest fighter of the lot in the 90's but in his other fights when he got him, he didn't get concussed or become dizzy upon getting hit in the face, he had his wits about him and carried on fighting. AJ in comparison has a much bigger chin problem and when he gets him, its more or less game over and Andy Ruiz today did not let him off the hook like Klitshko and he remained sharper, accurate and did not gas out like Povetkin either.
In this sport a poor chin will catch up to you eventually. Any fighter will get hit eventually, you aren't going to be a long term champion with such a shaky chin, AJ's stock just plummetted today and i doubt if he will ever be the same
I'm not even sure his chin is that bad. He seems to have DREADFUL powers of recovery. He's been hurt in 3 fights now, and in all of them it's taken him several rounds to shake off the cobwebs.
Maybe the fights with Klitschko, Povetkin, and Whyte took their toll on his punch resistance. Ruiz is probably just a bigger puncher than most people thought.
To me the accuracy, punch selection and speed was very tysonisque. Very few fighters have the art of coming up with the right punches at the right time.
Not sure his chin is that bad, he’s taken big shots, been down, but got up every time. His problem is taking the shot, he tends to stiffen up (more so than usual) and leaves himself wide open. Unable to hold and too cautious to throw. The shots seem to completely empty him in one go and he is unable to recover for a few rounds. I thought Ruiz had blown it by letting him off the hook in the 4th and 5th but he eventually got to him. I think maybe the shot that put him down first is being underestimated. It was bang on the temple and obviously dazed him, and probably caused the concussion. This led to him going down easier from subsequent shots.