Was AJ really exposed or was he just having an off night

Take nothing away from Ruiz, his job was to fight the man in front of him and on the night he was the better fighter, deservedly winning the titles.

So many people bore witness to Joshua’s strange behaviour that it can’t be dismissed, it was definitely not the Joshua we’re all used to watching. I myself told my brother that “he doesn’t look right” long before the first bell rang.

Matchroom can say whatever they want to but there was definitely something going on with Joshua.

 

Roach said he was one of the hardest hitters he had seen in the gym.

 

It was that one shot to the temple. It scrambled him completely. I'm fairly confident he wins a rematch. The odds might be interesting.

 

If it took Ruiz only until the 3rd round to land a shot that "scrambled him completely" what makes you confident Joshua wins the rematch ?
Isn't it reasonable to suspect that Ruiz would do something similar next time ?

 

He was most certainly exposed. Hyped up and falsely advertised as the 'undisputed' world champion despite not defending said title against the two other legit best fighters in the division.

 

If you get hit on the right place on the temple it can scramble anyone. The chances of that happening again are pretty low imo. Joshua definitely has frailties though, but I'd have him as 1/4 or so.

 

And Big Andy -- with a full twelve week camp behind him, not simply coming in at six weeks' notice -- will have his way with Joshua once more in the rematch.

 

Very good post by the way. Surprised at the lack of likes.

 

youve got mental problems

 

Reported

 

He clearly wasn't at 100% that night.

I'm no fan of AJ but he looked sluggish and uncoordinated from the first round plus the rumours of being KO'ed in sparring and the strange interactions between him and McCracken. Not saying AJ would have won if he was at his best in fact Ruiz may well have beaten him anyway.
The warning signs were there for AJ all the way back to the Whyte fight it's just none of his opponents have been able to put all the pieces together in terms of a skillset and strategy to win, Ruiz managed to do that.

And I'll go one step further and suggest that AJ's power and athleticism have been slowly fading since the Wlad fight when coincidentally he signed up for VADA testing which he has been on ever since, is that a factor in his deterioration ??

 

cmon buddy,you are saying you have the measure of one of the top pro boxers in the world,theres something not right with you.

 

I really hope not.

 

^^^ This!

He started well enough, knocked Ruiz down but didn't asses his opponent and went in for the kill. He got clipped and his plan (whatever it may have been) went straight out the window and due to his poor stamina, he never recovered. Even if he wasn't feeling right, he still had EVERY available tool to win that fight by clinching and throwing a proper jab. He could and should have just jabbed his way to victory, softened Ruiz up and maybe even got a late stoppage. Ruiz came in heavy and it's not like he was throwing a ton of shots, he was pretty plodding and methodical.

It's AJ's fight to lose again in the rematch, he has pretty much every conceivable physical advantage and I don't think his chin is actually bad, far from it in fact. It's not like he got David Priced and KO'd cold, he was up each time, but more concerning was the fact he was absolutely exhausted... he was blowing hard after 1 round, which for an elite athlete is inexcusable.

Also, trading on the inside with a short fast handed fighter... what was he thinking? He's a decent-ish inside fighter, for someone who's 6'6, which is fine against the other giants of the division who cant fight a lick on the inside, but against a short fighter like Ruiz, he should have been using that distance and leverage.