I keep watching Ruiz Joshua because it doesn't get old

I actually felt a bit sad, and I'm not a Joshua fan.

When Joshua won his Olympic gold I wasn't sold on him at all. He got two massive gifts (against Savon and Cammarelle) and looked like the typical hype job being pushed because he was British and looked and acted the part of a typical bland 'sports personality'. At that point I was hoping he'd get exposed and save us all the hype.

When he beat Martin I felt it was a cynical belt grab from Fury's fallout, but fair play to him. When he beat Wlad I started to warm to him, even though I felt he beat Fury's leftovers and struggled to do so. Still, a win over Wlad is a win over Wlad.

When he went on to beat Parker to unify I thought OK, he's not as bad as I thought. Then he became to first to KO Povetkin and looked to be seriously pushing for the Wilder fight. At that point I had to grudgingly accept that whatever his faults and blandness of personality he was the real deal, or at least trying to be.

So when the Miller fight fell through and Ruiz was picked as a replacement I just prayed there'd be no hiccups, since Ruiz was decent and Joshua wasn't prepping for him till a couple of weeks before. In situations like that upsets are more prone to occur, for a number of reasons.

As it happened Ruiz beat him on the night, and fairly, so he has to be considered the better man at this point. But that doesn't mean I take any pleasure in seeing Joshua get beaten, or want to retroactively downplay his achievements to that point. He tried to be the best and fell at the, what, fourth? fifth? hurdle. He did way better than I or many people ever expected of him, and good on him for that. I hope he bounces back. He's clearly still a very good fighter.

 

It is one of the greatest fights of all time.

 

The only annoying thing about the fight was how Joshua quit on his feet. A true champion doesn't quit like that.

 

How gay could you be? Really? Getting a hard on over someone you dont even know losing a boxing match.

 

This is a very honest and beautifully put assessment. I wholeheartedly agree.

 

if you keep watching it im afraid its time to get a life. watch love island or something.

 

Joshua needs to look more like one of those modern Super Heavyweights.
Loose some muscle and gain a big fat belly before the rematch.

 

Well put my man. Calling him a bum and enjoying it seems a bit weird to me. Like why the hate? Unless you’re a wilder fan.

 

He can bounce back.
But facing Ruiz immediately next seems like an unnecessary risky way of going about it.
Fair play to him if he can pull it off but it seems a bit crazy. Especially if he needs a new trainer.

 

I was happy that Ruiz won.
Ruiz was a huge underdog and was always a good fighter. A decent guy.
There was certainly an element of satisfaction in seeing the Joshua hypesters stunned and silenced a bit too. They've been out of hand the last couple of years.
Other than that I get no pleasure in seeing Joshua get beat though. He seems like a decent guy and he's had a lot of unrealistic hype to live up to. Not his fault.

I have been impressed with how Joshua has made no alibis for his defeat and how he's been a true sportsman in that regard.

I'll probably want Ruiz to beat him again though .... just because I can see the hordes of deranged AJ fanatics are alreay lining up to write the fight off as a "fluke" and have Ruiz confined to a mere footnote and an irrelevance. Most of the talk has been about "what was wrong with AJ ?" and few people are giving Ruiz enough credit. Only a repeat win for Ruiz will get him his due credit, which is unfair.

 

Big Andy pasted Joshua until he wanted no more and was looking for a way out.

 

I need to watch it again just to see the ringside reactions by the sounds of it

 

I fancy Andy -- unbroken 12 week training camp and all -- to get the job done even quicker in the rematch. Joshua doesn't seem able to make the necessary tactical and technical adjustments in the middle of a fight when it isn't quite going to plan, and certainly isn't able to fully actuate whatever instructions McCracken issues him with in the corner.

 

My favorite part right now is watching Ruiz kill Joshua to the body the found before last. Joshua goes from looking in control to looking for an exit in about one minute. I never saw that in a heavyweight title fight before.

 

ibwas under the impression Aj was going to kill ruiz and was super impressed with Ruiz and his performance