Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua vs. Andrés Ponce Ruiz Jr. RBR

it would be bigger than a world cup between mexico and uk... well, maybe not.

 

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After one fight?

 

Rematches more often than not go the same way, in this case I think it will for sure. Those heavy blows to the head would of taken a lot out of him, he didn't know were he was when talking in his corner between rounds. In rematch he'll get beatdown on again, probably worse. Ruiz has his number.

 

That thumbnail HAHAHAHHAH

 

I see what you're saying. Part of me agrees. He probably would be better served by taking the Lewis route post McCall and going through a few fights to rebuild confidence before leaping into the rematch. However, the Lewis example also stands as a reason not to wait -- by the time Lewis got back to McCall he had no title, he'd lost it to Bruno, etc. Will Matchroom really want to wait to regain its cash cow? I sincerely doubt it. For Matchroom, this is an all or nothing occasion - they don't have much in the way of tangible honors outside of Joshua's heavyweight title haul. They will press Joshua into taking the rematch and I suspect Joshua will be only too willing to agree, seeing it as the quickest possible route back to celebration.

On the other hand, I don't think Joshua needs to go through any great learning process to beat Ruiz. He simply needs to fight with his height and keep Ruiz on the end of a stiff jab for 12 rounds, aided in the outcome of a win by the fight being staged in the UK. Ruiz will have no fights in the interim, no boost to his confidence beyond this victory, which after 6 months of celebration will show some consequences on his already ample waistline.

 

Isn't that what he did?

It hurts me to defend Joshua this much, but all this doomsay after a single loss is hard to stomach. It's precisely this reaction which has kept the best fights from being made for fifteen years.

 

Vlad learned not to take chances with a rather weak chin. Use what you have and pound from the outside and win fights.. Joshua seems like he would benefit from that style, which is not exciting.

 

Gutted... over and over he says. It's like when they've been spiking fights for AJ so long, they forget he's actually been exposed. Like they forgot he isn't as good as they thought since they've been drinking that juice for so long. Roflmao.

 

He did but he went overboard with it. I don't think that he is done but he underestimated him and didn't take Ruiz seriously. AJ fights a lot better than that but he didn't put in the work that all truly great fighters do and he payed the price. He bought into all the hype he was getting across the pond.

 

It's not exciting, not by any stretch. Wlad's reign was a dark period, punctuated by the occasional highlight reel knockout of bum #8 or 13 or whatever. However, I would venture to guess that Joshua does not have the long-term discipline of Wladimir. That's not to say that he couldn't employ the Wlad method to regain his belts. He certainly could and probably will.

 

Yep, I agree. He took Ruiz seriously, but not seriously enough. He envisaged a parade fight with Ruiz being the willing stooge, Joshua gaining the love and respect of an American audience. Aside from the intrinsic stupidity of such an approach, he really failed at the most basic level to ensure that any of this nonsense would come true.

There's too much invested in Joshua for him to simply disappear. Plus, he's a valuable piece of the heavyweight division. He will return and I expect him to regain his belts. In the UK. With a UK decision. That is the way it works today.

 

The moment I knew Ruiz had him