I agree, like others have said.. it was the manner of the defeat that concerns me, AJ didn't get caught once like Lennox Lewis did against McCall or Rahman, it was a beat down.
Which is because he has bad recovery He stays hurt and can't get his legs under him quick enough So ruiz only needs to hurt AJ once and it should be a wrap
Isn't that a concern though? AJ was dropped against Wladimir, it took him ROUNDS to recover, people seem to forget he took ROUNDS, it wasn't AJ getting off the floor and quickly finishing the fight. Same with Whyte, Whyte wobbled AJ and it took him ROUNDS, to recover, he finished the fight well but again it took ROUNDS. Difference was when Ruiz hurt him, he pressed forward and didn't allow AJ to fully recover, Ruiz kept AJ working, kept him thinking, pressured him. But the fact remains, when AJ is hit, he stays hit, he stays hurt for long periods of time. On the reverse, Ruiz get dropped by huge punches, gets up and recovers quickly, AJ hasn't got the whiskers other fighters have. Imagine what would have happened to AJ if he was hit with the same two punches Fury was hit with by Wilder in that 12th round. Fury gets up and recovered quickly, AJ wouldn't have got up.
I agree with that estimate, he does looked damaged, we're talking mentally of course, his mannerisms and speech seem a tad off from where he was. He looks like a guy with zero confidence, I've said before after that type of loss he should have had a confidence builder fight. Then fight Fury who he doesn't have to worry about his power, or the winner of Wilder and Ruiz. This fight puts everything on the line.
I remember Lewis clowning before he got caught by Rahman. That's not what happened with Ruiz. Ruiz outboxed and outfaught AJ. AJ then called it a day. Louis clowned and paid the price. AJ got beat down and quit. Which one of those do you think it's easier to come back from?