Roll up! Roll up! It's the AJ excuse-o-meter! I've compiled a list of the full range of excuses I've read/heard over the past 24 hours. Take your pick!
He's come out already and said in the post fight interview when questioned why he lost that he was beaten by the better man on the night. I'll give him credit for remaining true to his words and humble in defeat. Perhaps he did look beyond this fight and underestimate Ruiz but he is taking full blame for this so don't feel an excuse thread is required. Everyone can have an off day and that wasn't the AJ we are used to seeing
None of your optiins fit the bill for me. AJ had no problems whatsoever going in, confirmed by Hearn, his team and himself. Why would they not drop an excuse? Like when he had a cold against Povetkin? AJ repeatedly said he never underestimates his opponent. He lost badly to a better man on the night who had the style to defeat AJ mentally and physically. AJ was not on PEDs, didn't need them. He merely came second place on all exchanges following his knockdown of Ruiz. He was SOOOO used to winning those exchanges and being a great finisher that he got educated by Ruiz who turned out to be faster and stronger on the exchanges. AJ couldnt handle that fact and kept trying to exchange and outgun Ruiz but kept failing and folded. He panicked and let his.pride lead to his demise rather than find a different way to attack Ruiz. Lets be real AJ has not improved in the last few years people only THINk he did. Same AJ showed up and won fights based on being a beast on exchanges. Then he met Ruiz and thats all she wrote.
He got caught in the third and couldn't recover. Was a combination of mental and physical factors IMO.
I think the body work and jabs to the chest did a major number on him... and The dig to the temple his legs had completely gone and was starting to gas Went into panic mode and tried to outgun him which backfired against the quicker guy massively .. Ruiz just didn’t give him a chance to breath where wlad pretty much tuck his foot off the gas for 3 rounds and let AJ recover when he had him hurt I think Joshua would look miles better losing some of that muscle .. it must be exhausting carrying around that frame and he’d still be stronger than most HW’s our therr
I must admit the being dropped/ knocked out in sparring has crossed my mind when I saw him looking all banged up and then sluggish in the ring. It's a reasonable 2+2 to put together. I voted for that but also that Ruiz style was all wrong but he will be back. I believe with adjustments things could different. It always looks bad when some one gets beaten to the punch and dropped 4 times but I beleive all that came off of the back of that first knock down. He never get his wits about him. Now lets imagine for a second if the sequence had happened that AJ had dropped Ruiz and then rushed in after and got dropped but never made the count I'm willing to bet a lot of people would've said it was a fluke loss/ win for Andy or lucky shots. The fact that AJ made it up but was a walking punching bag changes perceptions a lot. Same thing happend with Garcia vs Khan. Khan got up and was badly hurt, beaten from pillar to post and dropped repeatedly. Looked terrible. Worse than if he had just stayed down. Khan was winning that fight until those shots The perception would be completely different. But now its looked on like Garcia just destroyed khan
He already said he was beat by the better man, there is not need for a Klitschko compendium of excuses to be started.
Ruiz’s speed and toughness were better than anticipated, as was his jab and body work. His game plan of staying on top of AJ, testing his stamina, accentuated his fast hands for much more effective counterpunching He was aggressive and AJ wasn’t ready for it. The factor that can’t be ignored is AJ’s chin, it’s more than mental, his legs have gone rubber too often. He appears lucid and aware but his legs betray him. He’s still a great fighter but his chin will limit him.
Joshuas arms are stupidly big compared to his frame, he looks out of proportion imo..I don't think the body work done much imo, I think he went in with concussion from Okolie knocking him spark in sparring a few days before
I didn't expect Ruiz to win because I didn't think he had the reach to get to Joshua enough, and he proved that wrong. But I'm not completely shocked that Joshua lost to a good young fighter like him. Some people have been spreading the belief that Joshua has a "excellent resume" and routinely beats guys like this, BUT ..... Andy Ruiz Jr. was only the third good fighter who wasn't in the "aged" or "old" category that Joshua ever faced. The others were : Dillian Whyte, (who was not a world level contender at the time.) & Joseph Parker The rest of his resume : Klitschko, Povetkin, Takam, were OLD MEN. 41, 39 and 36 respectively. They were at the end of the line. (I'm not expecting any great comebacks from any of them). The other 17 fighters on his record were bums. Whyte, who really isn't greatly skilled and was even rawer then, wobbled Joshua while hampered with a bad shoulder. And Parker gave Joshua a decent fight, was never hurt, and was hampered by a terrible referee who kept him off Joshua. I think Joshua is a really good heavyweight but too many people have been ignoring the facts of his career and buying into all the hype that he's some sort of superman.