Joshua's critics will constantly bring up the fact that he lost against a little fat man, and judge him and his record it, despite the fact that he's clearly had tougher opponents and beat them. He had a bad night and approached the fight incorrectly, and dominated Ruiz 2nd fight. In my opinion, if he'd had fought the first fight behind his jab like he was instructed to by his corner, he would have won easily. But many people still will use it against him that he lost the first fight. To put this **** to bed, should he fight Ruiz a 3rd time? Or is the 2nd fight domination enough, and ruiz should have to earn it?
Ruiz is going to have to earn it. And it's going to be hard for him to do that. PBC probably won't run him through a gauntlet to force clamor. His best chance would be if Wilder beats Fury and then the in-house match with Wilder happens next year. Should Ruiz win that, obviously there would be demand for a third Joshua fight I would think.
Ruiz should earn it with a couple more good wins but I’d like to see them fight again somewhere down the line with Ruiz in the same or better shape he was in the 1st fight.
It's a really bad loss on his record nevertheless. Ruined his aura losing to that Mc Donalds gobbler. Nobody sees the bodybuilder as unified champion now. Fury can now lose against Deontay and ride on into the sunset, never fighting the pompous bodybuilder. But never have his career tarnished for it.
"If Ruiz earns it" - not sure about that. He earned it the by beating Joshua up badly the first time. You can't reach a satisfying conclusion at 1-1, especially considering the timid second bout, which was a real joke. Ruiz was pathetic and especially because Joshua was there for the taking. It's really not hard to circle a morbidly obese little guy for 12 rounds when you're 6'6'' and in good shape. It's funny how the Joshua fanboys refer to that as a masterclass. I don't blame him for doing it, but how that performance is enough to quench the thirst for a definitive conclusion can only be attributed to bias. Ruiz beat Joshua much more convincingly than Joshua beat Ruiz, that is for sure. It doesn't matter what Joshua does in his career, he will still have that enormous stain on his record. That being said, Usyk is a much better and tougher opponent than Ruiz, so I am looking forward to that.
It's less a case of owing Ruiz a third fight - Joshua owes it to himself. Credit for taking the immediate rematch against a fighter who made him completely unravel, less so for the manner in which he beat an even fatter version of the fat man who stopped him. Saudi Arabia was no boxing 'masterclass', it was pragmatic and risk-averse - perhaps understandably so. But to properly scratch his Ruiz itch, he needs a stoppage victory and a 2-1 head-to-head. I'd not be surprised if they fight again - for the reasons stated above - but Ruiz doesn't deserve to jump the queue because of the way he approached the second fight via an all-you-can-eat-buffet training regime...
It was a funny loss and a source of joy for me to this day, but in reality it's the inevitable result of his decision to consistently fight decent HWs. Eventually you get caught, it could have been WK, Povetkin, Whyte, or any of the others. It just happened to be Ruiz and that was hilarious.
josh already gave him a shot at the lot without earning it he took it let it go to his head and got huge
Both are the same age so why not , a third fight is still very much viable however this should happen down the line after the Usyk and the Undisputed fight with Fury (assuming Femi beats Usyk) . However, Ruiz kinda Mccalled himself by letting success get to his head after knocking out Joshua in the first, the second fight was a stinker.
So basically, his critics will always remind him of that loss, regardless of the fact that he has and could continue to beat better opponents than Ruiz? Good fighters, good football teams, good athletes in general are capable of having bad nights and bad performances. It's sometimes just part of the fighters learning process. Even if Joshua goes on to beat someone like Usyk, who most people consider better than Ruiz, people will still say "oh but you lost to a little fat man". It's just gonna be the way people get out of ever giving Joshua credit where credit is due.
Of course people are going to talk about it. It doesn't matter whether it was a bad night or he had the wrong game plan - he was beaten comprehensively and in fairly humiliating style by a massive underdog. Top fighters always have their detractors. For a direct comparison, look at Fury - people still discuss his dubious decision vs McDermott from 2009 or the time he was dropped by Cunningham. It's just the nature of the sport. Because it's not like football where a team plays maybe 45 times a year - so you get a good idea of their strengths/weaknesses - boxing has a much smaller sample size due to its irregularity so fighters are judged on singular events in far greater detail. Regarding a rematch - I'm torn. Strictly speaking he probably does owe Ruiz a 3rd fight. However I think we all know what would happen and it would be a straightforward victory. Probably by KO this time. I also don't think there's much appetite to see it.
It's a case of weighing things up. Joshua should be given credit for beating the deadwood of the division, beating one top tier opponent on the way out in a match he almost lost, and if he does so, beating a very good opponent in Usyk. On the other hand, he did lose to a mediocre opponent. That will never leave his record, particularly in the way he lost. That doesn't mean to say he's a bad boxer. He's one of the best in the division. But to brush that loss to one side, or to suggest that there is a way to expunge it, is a falsehood.
Without 0 doubts. Patterson vs Johansson trilogy was example how this should had been done. For A.J looks that is enough to cover fight lost via stoppage with fight he had won on cards. Different eras.
Ruiz let himself down in the second fight. Why would you reward laziness and being a far blob? He has to earn it and get himself into contention again. The blob could have built himself incredible wealth and an everlasting legacy had he focused in the rematch.