Here are the things that were most noticeable about the Joshua-Ruiz 2 fight- (1) AJ's foot movement was incredible for a big guy. Huge improvement. (2) AJ can't clinch too well - and that's good. We don't want another "hugger". (3) AJ's head movement was much better - and he no longer kept his head still after punching. (4) AJ was dancing around in there like Muhammed Ali !! Very light on his toes. Looked to be enjoying it. (5) Ruiz was completely outclassed. (6) In the first fight Ruiz had AJ's number. In this one AJ had Ruiz's number. Even if Ruiz weighed 260 I still think AJ wins with ease. (7) AJ has a good chin. Shook off several hard smacks from Ruiz. (7) Incredible improvement from AJ in just 6 months. Very impressed. I have not been much of an AJ fan until now. This guy just proved he is the best HW on the planet.
Spot on, good post. AJ is terrible at holding/clinching, every time he tried he gave Ruiz a chance and like you say it’s a good thing. AJ took some good shots like he did against Klitschko when he got caught flush plenty of times. He doesn’t have an iron chin but it’s nowhere near what people make out.
To be fair I think anyone would have a hard time clinching Ruiz, fat is a lot harder to grip onto than muscle, especially covered in sweat.
Ruiz was silly putting on that amount of weight. Same outcome of the first fight if he did come in lighter. Joshua was running for dear life. He was terrified of the blobs big belly!
agreed r.e his chin. I've said for years the chin isn't the problem, its the gas tank. Look at some of those shots he took off of Klitschko after he got dropped, some HUGE shots landed on him, including a massive uppercut that he literally ducked onto iirc, and he barely moved, he just looked shattered.
I said for the rematch that I would have AJ "hopping around more" and i got laughed out of the forum Looks like it worked for him
The assumption with a lot of people is AJ just ran as well, but in reality he was landing some decent punches and did try follow up attacks but it was clear Ruiz wasn’t hurt enough so he went straight back to the game plan. I think he would have tried to attack more if the pressure wasn’t so intense for this one. He looked very good, he changed in a way a lot of fighters were never able to.
I actually noticed the exact same things Only never thought AJ had a bad chin just think the last fight was one of those times where a certain shot causes a certain effect. I think if Joshua and Ruiz fought 10 times that Joshua would win 8/9 of those times. I would say one thing that I disagree with, with you here in that I also agree Joshua doesn't tie his opponents up but think it would be a good asset to add to his game so as to preserve energy and wear opposition down
Unless you lean down on their backs. But Ruiz is good at fighting out of the clinch , he uses a forearm for space , often against Ajs neck.. He's just just a good inside fighter in general. The only guys to beat him used a lot of leg movement.