Film study-can AJ win the rematch?

Cooper actually had very fast hands. And much more power than Ruiz. It was Bert's lack of dedication and conditioning that was his downfall.

 

Everything people say about Ruiz Jr right now -- exactly the same level of drivel was said about Rahman after he knocked out Lewis:

1. "Superhuman" strength
2. Super long arms, amazing reach
3. Amazing ring IQ
4. Killer instinct
5. Superior handspeed

Only in hindsight people now say Rahman was "never a complete fighter", "was lucky vs. Lewis" etc.

 

You’re so far off, I don’t think you were even watching boxing back then.

 

Well you think wrong.

These type of random "You weren't a boxing fan back then, you don't know what you're talking about" don't really work well in a discussion. Lewis - Rahman was 2001. I was a boxing fan for the better part of a decade at the time.

 

And half of your list never applied to Rahman. He was physically strong and had a nice jab and right hand. He was also limited and had stamina and chin issues. All of this was known before he fought Lewis.

 

Of course it doesn't, I didn't say it did apply to Rahman, Einstein. I said that's what people said who were hyping Rahman after the Lewis win. Obviously they were wrong, but they bought into the hype, deluding themselves.

I was around back then. We had forums. Can you imagine how often I read 'Rahman's octopus arms and his superhuman strength make all the difference. They negate the height advantage, Lewis will get destroyed again'.

They posted videos of Rahman bench pressing 450 lbs or whatever in camp, people kept telling us how 'incredibly strong' Rahman was. Also there was a video of Rahman getting into a physical fight with Lewis in a TV interview and people on the forums told me that Rahman 'was getting the better of Rahman in the TV studio brawl because he's physically stronger. Lewis is shaken by Rahman's aggression'.

Were you around back then big man, you should remember all this. This is the type of drivel you have to deal with when people get hyped about a fighter after one big win.

Now add 1 + 1 and see how this is a metaphor for Andy Ruiz Jr.

 

Joshua has been poor against tsmam Parker and portion. He was particularly hurt by portion because of these tactics of bending forward in a crouch with the earmuff defense of both hands over his head like Mike Tyson. He needs to listen george foreman when he talks about using your height and jab and never bringing your head into range for the shorter opponent. Joshua needs to be on his toes not plod around flat footed in this leaning forward crouch. Bad tactics.

 

Don't sleep on AJ guys - He hasn't become a terrible fighter all of a sudden like people have made out, he stupidly overlooked Ruiz, he was warned about how good he is but probably ignored it - I doubt this will happen again.

I don't think AJ necessarily has a weak chin, after rewatching his fights with Klit, Pov and Whyte I could see that he took way cleaner and more powerful shots that hardly troubled him (A couple did, but he ate plenty too). The worst punches are the ones you don't see or expect - this looked like the case against Ruiz.

He dropped Ruiz quite heavily with a clean combo, this normally sends people into survival mode if they even get up - he likely expected Ruiz to cover up and cling on for dear life, he thought he'd be terrified... but he wasn't. AJ went in badly after the KD, swinging for the fences thinking there's nothing to worry about, thinking he would just routinely finish him off, thinking "wait till Wilder see's this!" - he didn't fear what could come back one bit at that point and foolishly underestimated Ruiz.

Ruiz, much to AJ's surprise, fought back like an absolute warrior and landed a great left hook that changed everything. AJ was then dazed and mentally scrambled for the rest of the fight, and became easy pickings for Ruiz. AJ should have respected Ruiz more from the offset. I bet his only fear was winning the fight in a less spectacular fashion than how Wilder dispatched of Breazeale the week before. Probably didn't even consider that he could lose.

No disrespect to Ruiz btw, i'm not saying it was all down to AJ's mistakes - that AJ would still have iced most fighters... Ruiz seized his moment like an absolute boss and proved he's a brilliant fighter.

If for the rematch; AJ has a gameplan with multiple backups, knows he's now the underdog, trains as if he's fighting a prime Mike Tyson, works on conditioning, redevelops that hunger and most importantly respects what Ruiz could do to him.. He'll get the W, and I think by KO too! He's hurt Ruiz before, could do it again - if he takes his time and uses his brain should be able to finish him off. His focus is Ruiz now, forget Wilder and the rest, he now only has one thing to focus on.

 

And if you listened to him you would understand why he said that.

 

What's it got to do with you?

 

Nothing?
Just saying don't be a smart ass and maybe listen to the guy before posting snarky comments.

 

Save your little acerbic sideswipes for others, I'm not interested....

 

I just learned a new word.

But Fouts has some nice ideas, I recommend listening to him.