The question - Is Anthony Joshua Overrated ?

Joshua clearly treated this fight too lightly. Its like Lennox losses against Rachman and Mccall , also Tyson lost to Buster. Their opponents did their job, performing at highest level of their career while the champs steps in thinking this would be a walk through the park.

If there's rematch clause, then Joshua has one change to proof this was all fluke , otherwise.. he's clearly overrated. He recovered from KD against Wlad but Wlad was 40+ years old and not a preasure fighter.

 

Ruiz is better than Breazeale. He's actually a step up from Jarrell Miller, I remember I posted that on our forum as soon as Ruiz was announced the replacement.

You might be right but wouldn't you rather see it happen? I hope AJ vs Wilder gets made soon.

 

He was always a tad slow. I don't think anyone expected him to mentally check out though. The last 40 seconds of the sixth round Joshua almost seemed to be pulling an Oliver McCall, minus the crying.

 

It is a fair question and yes I admit I probably overrated him. One of the things I liked about him was how professional he was, he seemed to have learned from that time in Wlad's camp the level of focus needed to a dominant champion but clearly after last nights fight he took his eye off the ball and allowed himself the fight what can be only be described as a stupid fight.

Yes he may very well win the rematch but now I have doubts about his focus, just like Lewis before him he seems prone to lapses of focus, there's no way he should of found himself trading inside with Ruiz like that.

He may very well go on a long undefeated streak after regaining the belts but from now on I'll always have doubts about his ability to remain fully focused on the task at hand and against a fighter like Wilder one moment of a lapse in concentration and you'll find yourself flat on your back, maybe that's harsh but it's true.

 

I would say this is odd but if you go back and study how fighters behave when they get hurt, all types of things can happen. This is just how it looks like when he loses. It looked odd to folks when David Price first got exposed. Now that we have seen it 5 times since then, it's not so odd. Doesn't really bode well for his future now that the cat is out of the bag.

 

Probably a combination of overall lack of focus for this opponent, paired with that punch to the ear. Will be interesting to see how he bounces back.

 

Joshua got his first knock down on Ruiz off a short right upper into a left hook. He went in to finish threw it a second time during the exchange and Ruiz ducked the hook. Not long after he tried for a third time and Ruiz timed a hook after the short upper.

After that Joshua pumped out jabs with minimal conviction, a guy with questionable tank wasting energy on pointless jabs which had he mixed in some feints, could have resulted in the same result. As the fight went on he began to really struggle with Ruiz's head movement and could barely keep Ruiz out with a 20 inch reach advantage.

It's not something I've really noticed about his previous fights, but in this one his punch selection IMO played a huge factor in the outcome. As for overrated, by some yes. He can still come back, but today showed he has a lot of issues to fix. Also have to credit Ruiz's ability to parry and slip punches.

 

Combination of both - Ruiz was underrated/underestimated

Joshua was overrated by lots of people here assuming him to be a demigod.

I'd always get laughed at if I suggested AJ could lose to the likes of Dillian Whyte for example on a rematch.

It just wouldn't register with some people that AJ could get beat by anyone other than the previous top three (as of last night).

Joshua is not perfect, and he has weaknesses. He is not the dominant force of nature a lot of people thought he was. And he will seriously need to revisit the drawing board to fix what went wrong yesterday because it isn't a simple fix.

 

Styles make match ups, would Fury have struggled the same way against Ruiz??? Ask yourself why not.

AJ is there to be beat by people like Ruiz, and the same people would fair differently against the like of Fury. So don't count out Dillian Whytes chances in a rematch.

 

he is only over rated by his promoters and the casual fans

 

for me this was a hard style for aj to fight against. its harder to generate maximum power punching downward.
im no pro boxer but iv had some amateur experience. im a cruiser and only 5ft 8, I often enjoy fighting with guys a little taller than myself whereas guys my height a get toasted more often. ruiz displayed crazy guts to hit back as soon as aj landed on him.

 

People's brain overrated.

 

Oh please! Joshua lost to a comic version of two Ton Tony Galento, Ruiz will be destroyed if he fights Wilder. Good names? an old Wlad who almost ko'ed him too?

 

Joshua ran into a quick-fisted fighter with true fighting instinct and better vision.

 

I like #6,,,when a fight broke out he was befuddled. I've said the same thing about him, he's a 1-2 puncher who waits to land a big shot