Why didn't AJ attempt to avenge his loss via KO or TKO? He avenged the loss, but did it in a lame fashion. Mods: Please move to General if it belongs there.
I’ve seen Ruiz get hit with much harder shots than Joshua ever hit him with, so Joshua and his team made the right decision to focus on getting the win instead of a knockout, since at the end of the day a win is a win. I doubt even Wilder could knock Ruiz out.
he didnt wanna mix it cos hes gunshy as a result of the 1st fight. Not a great spectacle to watch but a good move on his part
I only say this because I had the opportunity to see Darnell Wilson, who in my opinion can hit just as hard as Wilder even though admittedly Wilder is a more accomplished fighter faceplanet Ruiz at Goossen’s with one of the hardest straight rights I’ve ever seen and Ruiz popped back up and kept sparring like nothing happened. One of my trainer’s best friends Salvador Villa used to train Ruiz early in his pro career, so I used to see Ruiz spar and train often. This is also why even before the first Joshua-Ruiz fight I said on here that Joshua would be in trouble if he tried to force a knockout on Ruiz. Trying to knockout a durable guy like Ruiz is more trouble than it’s worth and actually works to Ruiz’s advantage. Ruiz’s weakness in Southern California has been well known for years, which is that he hates having to move around the ring.
Why slug wth a slugger, especially a slugger who firstly ko'd you before, and secondly came in well overweight, hit and don't get hit is the healthiest way. A plus was that AJ proved to himself at lower weight he was able to fight and get on his bike without gassing. Can picture all the messages here if after getting on his bike and winning the rounds AJ then in later rounds went for the ko and got decked himself, AJ won and got his titles back, job done, revenge is a worthless emotion, changing a successful gameplan to take unnecessary risks for no benefit is sporting and business lunacy.
Why Lewis didn't go in the kill mode against Tua? Why Wlad didn't try to demolish Povetkin? And note here that neither Lennox nor Wlad were KO'ed in their last fights before Tua and Pov respectively
Yes, but that's because he fought dumb/lazy fight the first time. Unlike Ruiz, Rahman wasn't good counter puncher. He was dangerous when opponent allowed him to set up right hand and that was exactly what Lewis did in the first fight. So for Lewis it was basically the best way to beat Rahman - the way Lennox fought him in the rematch. Had he fought him in safety-first style like he did against Tua or Holyfield, at some point of the fight Rahman could get an opportunity to set up his right hand. As for Joshua, I think safety-first approach was the best way to beat Ruiz in the rematch. Ruiz was countering him extremely well in the first fight, plus he had far superior chin and hand speed comparing to AJ, while Rahman was slower than Lewis and IMO had worse chin than Lennox as well
