AJ names the hardest puncher he’s faced and it’s not Andy Ruiz Jr

Did he ever actually say it?

 

Parker seemed to handle Ruiz "power" fine.

 

This. Ruiz has never been a very hard puncher, but he is very accurate and has quick hands, which is a combination than can sometimes be more dangerous than raw punching power.

 

For Sure , Roy Jones comes to mind with the last statement.

 

probably because they remember it when the lights go out you usually don't remember

 

It doesn’t matter who punch the hardest out of all the guys he has faced. What matters is who has put him on his ass and give him his L.

 

Ask my old buddy Randall Tex Cobb about Earnie. He said "Earnie was the only man who hit me hard enough to really hurt me & make me feel like quitting every punch he laded shook me to my roots" A funny story about that fight was When Tex came back to his corner his trainer George said
"Dont worry Tex he's not hurtin' you" Tex replied " In that case you'd better watch the goddamm referee then cause somebody is & there aint no one else in there " ROFL
A classic from Tex

 

Oh please, do I need to clarify “quality tall fighters”? His defense and looking completely lost in how to deal with range and reach was not an age thing.

It’s prettt obvious and if you sparred guys shorter or taller than you, you know certain defensive manoeuvres work differently. Fighting a taller guy, you can either put a high guard up and walk your opponent down absorbing the hits on the gloves on the way forward. Or you can move your head like Loma/Tyson/Pac does. Or employ lateral movement like they do. Or if you’re going to get in, get out, you can do it but you take much bigger leaps, you literally have to hop in and out which is what Pac and Loma does.

Now if you’re taller, you can for example stick your hands out, specially lead hand. This does 2 things, 1) your jab has less distance to travel thus easier to land, and since you have such a reach advantage you can still use the range as a defense (won’t work unless you have that range advantage yet Lewis tries to teach everyone to jab this way like Eubank and Wilder), 2) it acts as a defense, partying punches before they even become a threat and blurring vision of the opponent. Won’t work against a taller guy, they simply punch around it. Same thing with leaning back for defense, the equivalent for a shorter guy is literally jumping out, leaning back will get you clipped.

That’s why leaning back works for floyd but not for broner, range, height.

Wlad fought 2 quality taller fighters and he looked like a lost puppy, AJ and Fury. AJ looked stiff and amateurish but he had good inside game and a physical specimen. He would have trouble Wlad probably at any point.

Lewis fought 1 quality guy taller than him in vitaly, and he got hell for it.

Lewis toughest fight was against a taller guy. Wlads 2 losses after steward was against 2 taller guys. That’s not a coincidence.

We also saw some of this with Floyd McGregor. Floyd couldn’t pull back counter and was getting countered with an uppercut from an MMA fighter for ffs.

 

Levels below him, height is a non-factor when the levels vary so much. Guys like Fury and Joshua, specially Joshua isn’t necessarily better than Wlad even at 41. Wlad just never been taught how to deal with taller fighters, manny stewards style was maximising height and reach advantage over shorter guys. Hearns, Lewis, Wlad. Same way it seems AJ hasn’t been taught how to fight tall properly.

 

And if Wlad was 30-35 when he fought Fury or AJ he would KO them and you would call them bums.
AJ went life and death with a 42 year old, slow, no stamina, no reflexes Wlad and it shows that Wlad is bad against tall fighters?
That's almost like saying Danny William's had Tysons number or Berbick had Ali's number.
And Klitschko's fight was much closer.
There are videos when Wlad at 40 was being made like a fool by a Muay Thai fighter with almost no boxing experience. That's how declined he was.

You shouldn't judge fighter's abilities when they are old.

 

Fury would have schooled him at any point, just no way in dealing with that height and range. You actually gotta use some analytical skills and break down in what aspect was age a contributing factor?

Wlad never fought anyone on AJ and Fury’s level in his prime of that size.

He doesn’t know how to guard against taller fighters, how to control range against taller fighters, age is not a factor in that.

 

you know i tihnk you should read more into the concurrence on that choice.

Rather than assuming they are ALL lying because they all musta met up the night before to agree to tell the same lie about him.

 

Earnie Shavers is the poster boy for overrated punchers. Even normally sober-minded posters get suckered in by how violently Earnie Shavers wasn't able to KO people (but by golly, those quotes, they sure be somethin...)

 

Wlad was obviously the hardest puncher Joshua fought, followed by probably Whyte or Povetkin. Ruiz and Parker were dangerous due to their speed (and Ruiz for his ability to fight in the pocket) but not necessarily one punch guys.