Had Ruiz showed up for the AJ rematch...

I agree that no one should take anything away from Ruiz, he did show up on the biggest night of his career.

To be honest whilst I find his well honed media persona a little too contrived for my tastes, my respect for AJ grew that night because he didn't make any excuses, made sure to pay due respect to Ruiz and didn't make any of those veiled references to training camp issues that fighters often do when they suffer an unexpected loss.

The gameplan for the rematch was the right one in my view. One chance, mess it up and Haymon controls the belts and AJ may never get another shot.

 

Confident gameplan and looks that A.J might not like 3 rd fight vs Ruiz.
Ruiz had lost to boxers that did not seriusly attempted to ko him. These that did it, had lost fight vs Ruiz.
Ruiz btw fought more responsible and looked less vulnerable than in first fight. More dangerous to attempt KO him.
Lost on cards? If he was Wilder, third fight happened.
Different names= different attitude. A.J did had lost to Ruiz, because he had been finished by Ruiz, that simple and won Ruiz just on points.

 

I think if Ruiz had come in around 245-250 and applied constant pressure Joshua would have wilted around the 9th or 10th round.

 

Unfortunately Ruiz’s achilles heel is making him move around the ring, so he likely still would’ve dropped a decision to Joshua, since Joshua wisely decided to come in lighter. I’ve been saying for years that Joshua performs better when he comes in under 240 lbs, since the extra weight does nothing for him.

 

Who knows. He had the chance to do just that in real life and didn't take it.

 

No, fat Andy had championship hangover and took a career-altering beating. Cristobal might KTFO him now.

 

This would have happened, but more one sided.

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I heard that too, there was a article I read that he had minor surgery but it was before the bout. He was on anesthetic or something, he came into his training camp very ill, and the sparring partners were catching him and hurting him. Basically softened him up and made it worse. Ruiz was always underestimated, but he took advantage of his condition. Watching the fight back, Joshua was groggy in the first 2 rounds, his foot speed and co ordination was off. I remember someone mentioning how passive he looked. His mouth was opened wide, and his high guard was non existent.

 

He’d lose again. Slow feet, small reach and AJ was on his bike and didn’t engage and play to Ruiz strengths.

 

Joshua was never hurt in the rematch don’t be biased.

 

No.

 

This

 

I suspect that AJ had bulked up in preparation for Miller, who is massive but not a big hitter.

 

Ruiz is would never beat AJ again. The only reason he won is because Joshua underestimated him, trying to take him out early was dumb on AJ’s part since Ruiz has a good chin and standing right in front and opening up on someone with faster hands is just begging to get speed blitzed. Ruiz has the much slower feet here and Joshua would never exchange with him again. Ruiz saw his opportunity and took it, but that opportunity will never be there again. Also I really don’t like the excuses being made for Joshua. Even if he was hurt or healthy I’m sure he’d still make the mistake of trying to take Ruiz out early, Ruiz is pretty easy to overlook