AJ Stoppage, was it too soon?

Giving it your all and getting up four times along with clearly saying yes when asked if he wanted to continue somehow is equivalent to being a quitter. Why stay in the fight and get beat up for 4 more rounds when he had the perfect opportunity to quit in the 3rd after being clipped behind the ear?

As far as certain members claiming Joshua is full of excuses, why not provide just one that he has made? Oh that's right, because he never made one. As a matter of fact, he has done nothing but shower Ruiz with the accolades he so rightly deserves.

 

Because he still thought he could come back and win in a similar to fashion to way he came back in the fight against Klitschko.

When he found out Ruiz wasn't going anywhere and wouldn't fade like the 40 year old Wlad, he didn't want anymore.

The ref beckoned him to talk forward and he ignored command. Then smiled in relief when the fight was over. That's not the signs of someone who wished to continue no matter how you wish to sugar coat it up, and pretend otherwise.

 

Given how the AJ fans have been unbearable since, yeah it was probably was too soon. Had the referee allowed it to continue he'd have been forced into retirement, which would have shut the whiney conspiracy mad *******s up

 

So he didnt quit initially(3rd round) because he thought he could come back and win, yet chose to stay in the ring and take a beating for an additional 4 rounds(3 more knock downs) in hopes that his opponent would fade. When has Ruiz had stamina issues that would make Joshua count on him fading? It would seem to most logical boxing fans that Joshua was the one having stamina issues and fading, not Ruiz. There is a whole lot of assumptions in your post, after reviewing a few, it looks as if that is normal for you.

I noticed that you created another thread involving Joshua pertaining to the excuses for the reason why he lost? What excuses has Joshua himself made? If none, what was the point of the thread? Why the agenda.

 

Going down 4 times is enough. This is not the 19th century.

 

Doesn't matter If AJ said yes. Of course he Is going to say yes. This isn't the 1920s.

 

The last knockdown he simply fell down. The ref knew that and Joshua stumbled to the corner and let the ropes hold him up. Good stoppage in my eyes. (Not to mention the spitting of the mouthguard)

 

I wouldn't call it quitting, or many fighters quit in fights. That is just being knocked down 4 times and having enough. Call it a fight and comeback and fight better next time. I remember Barkley when he fought Toney. Barkley was a warrior and he was all busted up at the end of the fight. Swollen and bloody. You could tell he had enough and he was not against the stoppage, but he said when they stopped it no no no. But his effort was incredible. You cannot ask for more. The question is. How much do we want these guys to take? Joshua comes back for more after that 4 knockdown and he would go down again and it would have been over. How would that help him?

 

When you spit out your gumshield and make no effort to want to resume combat then a ref is perfectly justified in waving you off.

Did Joshua quit? No, but he certainly wasn't upset at the stoppage. He was probably in two minds about the ending, wanting to fight on for pride's sake but knowing he had nothing left to actually make a difference.

 

AJ knows the procedure after being KD, after all he followed it to the letter for the first three: Get up, steady yourself on your legs, walk toward the ref when asked to do so, CLEARLY confirm verbally you want to box on - and coherently answer any other questions you might be asked - and form a basic guard for the glove wipe, all within a period of time the REF considers reasonable.

Now I repeat, for the first three KDs, he did this to the letter, including the one which happened only a few seconds prior to the stoppage. Why then did he not do exactly the same for the final KD? Why did he spit out the mouthpiece? Why did he stand in the corner with his arms up on the ropes?

You're flapping your arms around in mock indignation but failing to address the facts or convincingly answer simple questions. A bit like AJ.

And for the record, no I don't think he's a quitter per se - he's got A LOT of credit in the bank from past fights - but from the embarrassed smile on all fours, the spitting out of the mouthpiece to walking from the ref and standing in the corner resting his arms I believe he wanted to put the ref in a situation where he stopped the fight. AJ forced the issue and avoided the potential ignominy of being laid out and unable to regain his feet.

Merely muttering 'yeah' when asked if he wanted to box on simply doesn't eliminate all of the above. De facto... he chose not to box on. Quit is an emotive term but let's deal with all the facts and not cherry pick one.

And would you have taken this stance if it had been Whyte in the opposite corner to AJ, and not Ruiz? I'm not too sure you would....

 

Early stoppage for me. Only because joshuas capable of knocking anyone out himself especially in a swing off. He was pretty much done for....but looked clear headed enough to go out on his shield swinging and hoping for the best. If it was me in joshuas shoes i,d be raging at the ref personally. But if it makes boxing a safer place probably for the best. No blame for the ref tho. Four knockdowns how many chances do you need. At some point they should have told joshua to fight him back. Was always about going back to boxing him. Thats good tactics but when it becomes apparent its not working at some point you,ve to turn it into a firefight.

 

Good points. It was a good stoppage, AJ gave the same "embarrased smile" when he got knocked down by Wlad. The ropes didn't hold him up, he was slouching on the ropes, and he didn't mutter "yeah"

He said, "Yeah, Yeah I'm good" twice in a row, which is how he speaks on the streets/ normally.

 

I hope none of the people claiming an early stoppage also claimed Fury should have been waved off vs Wilder. He was back in action 20 seconds after the knockdown while Joshua was chilling against the ropes.