Its interesting how similar this is playing out to Wlads loss to Sanders, imo. The muscle bound golden boy being demolished by a fat overlooked underdog. The difference here is that Im not sure AJ is as mentally tough as Wlad was. And while Wlad benefited from Sandera already having one foot out the door and also having Vitali to take care of Sanders, AJ will have to face the same adversity and bad matchup all over again. I am rooting for him, I hope he does it. I am gutted he lost. But I think him having to rematch Ruiz will determine that this is not going to be Wlad Sanders. I think Ruiz beats him again in a rematch, and I think the cracks in AJs mind keep him from regaining the throne. Whether he retires (wouldnt suprise me) or just comes up short down the line again. I do think he will have a hard time recapturing the magic. Hope Im wrong.
Corrie Sanders looks like a Mr Universe compared to Ruiz. And Sanders even when in shape was no body beautiful
Saunders was an entirely different animal. Tall, southpaw with devastating power in his left hand. Ruiz is just a good solid short fighter with fast hands who happened to be in his prime in comparison to the other old men AJ fought.
I do tend to be a bit over pessimistic when a fighter takes a loss. Maybe Im doing that here. Im not trying to kick a guy when hes down or anything... I think AJ can rebuild if he doesnt have to fight Ruiz again. But it will depend a lot on his mental toughness. I still question that (obviously hes mentally tough... I mean relative to the obstacles ahead)
Except Joshua doesn’t have the intelligence, will or heart to bounce back and change his style and improve his skills like Wlad did. Nor does he have an awesome coach like Steward to help him bounce back. Anthony will be a thing of the past within 3 years. Watch.
Sanders would've done exactly what he did to Wlad to the far inferior Wlad that is AJ and the even more inferior Donkey and I'm very confident of that. Sure there's a chance they might have caught him first but problem is Sanders actually knew how to fight and set things up and neither AJ or Donkey would be able to avoid that lightning fast left hand and best believe neither of them are taking more than a couple of flush left hands from him. Donkey only survived that onslaught from cement feet Old Man Ortiz who can't avoid a right hand to save his life because he made damn sure to keep his chin glued down, against Sanders whose feet were far from made out of cement and who was a lot faster than Old Man River Ortiz, that wouldn't be the case.
Not really, because Sanders literally blitzed Wlad before Wlad could even get going. Meanwhile, Ruiz literally outclassed and schooled Joshua over a period of multiple rounds BEFORE knocking him the hell out. BIG DIFFERENCE!
Sanders would have knocked Wilder out cold. Can you imagine that straight left detonating on Wilder as he throws a wild haymaker?
We'll see what AJ is made of now. He's lost his unbeaten record and people will doubt him. I think he can bounce back if he wants to enough, but future opponents with the right tools and attitude will also know he's beatable. Fury and Wilder still have their official unbeaten records. It will be a big blow to AJ over the next few weeks and months for sure.
Well the loss could really be a positive thing for AJ, we have all seen he has vulnerabilities.. as Lewis said.. losing for him was the best thing that happened to his career. Ruiz was a stylistic nightmare for AJ, but I can see AJ winning the rematch with a change of gameplan and work on his defence. Also... lets not forget.. Ruiz deserved this.. he was sold short vs Parker and now he has accomplished a goal for all Mexican fans. I can't help but feel good about this result.
Very fair point. However, it was pretty obvious Wlad had zero answers for Sanders cross. Its literally like he couldn't see it coming and when hit, didn't know what to do. Thats different than just getting caught. He didn't get outclassed, but I have no reason to think he wouldn't have been blitzed again in an immediate rematch. But I do see your point and indeed it might be significant.
I see similarities between AJ and Wlad, with AJ being a poor man’s wlad, but Sanders was a much better fighter than Ruiz is , he was taller , more athletic and much more powerful .
That was quite a horrific beating from the blob Ruiz in all honesty. Joshua will have to come to the realization that he won't be able to stand and trade against certain opponents. Ruiz appears to be one of those fighters that are too tough, and dangerous to go for a early or mid round KO. Look how Klitschsko was troubled against the short tank Sam Peter, who put him down 3 times. Wilder in the first fight with Stiverne fought defensive. Should have went for the slow methodical breakdown, against Ruiz.
