Yeah, people seem to ignore that. Even in the rounds after the third, when Joshua was still not recovered, he landed some shots on Ruiz that would have turned the fight around against most opponents. Ruiz just absorbed the shots and came back stronger. Also, Ruiz's performance seemed to suggest he had a lot more left in the tank too.
I must admit I had Bellew/Haye in my mind too. Maybe Ruiz just has a horrible style for AJ. A fast-handed counter puncher whose brave and tough as boots. It could simply be AJ's kryptonite. It kinda reminded me of Wlad-Sanders. Except Wlad had the intelligence to adjust afterwards and I'm not sure AJ does
Because he couldn't see or defend against the punches that were hitting him, that's why. When a man is being battered in the body and the head, then some more in the body, by punches he can't see coming, he's bound to feel the effects of the blows before he can comprehend exactly how much he's being hit. He also said "what's he gonna come out and do?" and "what's he hitting me with ?" ....... he simply couldn't keep up with what was happening out there. He knew he was losing and taking punishment but couldn't grasp exactly how and where he was being hit. That's boxing. I'm sure some of his previous opponents probably felt the same way too !
If he doesn't have a panic attack, surgery, get knocked out in sparring and feel sad about being far from home, he should be OK.