Was AJ really exposed or was he just having an off night

All the top guys have flaws. Wilder has shown major defensive flaws. Fury is featherfisted and was dropped hard by Cunningham. You can still be labelled the #1 guy in the division despite showing major flaws, because everyone has flaws.

If he already showed the major flaws, then he wasn't exposed in the Ruiz fight, the flaws were already there. He just didn't overcome them on that night. Doesn't mean he can't come back and overcome those flaws.

 

Flaws were already exposed, Ruiz just ran a posse of sombrero wearing Mexican Bandidos through them.

 

I think it's a bit of everything. Ruiz was better than we thought he was going to be. But there was definitely a mental aspect for Joshua. Something clearly wasn't right. At the weigh-ins, the press conferences..it felt like to me with all the laughing and fun going on that AJ wasn't taking Ruiz seriously.

But yes, AJ was exposed in terms of his defense. His chin is good, his offense is destructive. But his defense is and always has been lacking. He has tried to improve that over time, and we saw some improvement against Povetkin. Ruiz had the skills to figure out AJ to get up close to him and land those shots. That problem will never fully be solved, although AJ has tried to patch up what he can of that leaky defense. He has learnt to use the jab more as a defensive tool, and his movement has improved after finding the optimal weight.

 

There's practically no such thing as a fighter without flaws, especially in the modern era. AJ is no different. He reminds me of a pre-Corrie Sanders Wlad -- gifted with great height/reach/coordination/power/athleticism and speed for their sizes(Wlad was faster and more fluid though), but they both essentially threw away their advantages against guys due to their aggressive and reckless styles and nature. Too bad Manny Steward isn't still around, AJ would undoubtedly have been his pupil and a better boxer for it. Both guys got knocked out by guys shorter and not as rangy as them because they couldn't/didnt keep their range, and both guys who beat them had blazing hands for HW's and dynamite in their hands.

I think Ruiz will always be AJ's boogeyman, just like Sanders was to Wlad. But I think that boogeyman status is more mental to both Wlad and AJ due to how badly they were upset and got their asses kicked.

Its times like these that really show the character of someone. AJ and Wlad -- and especially Lennox Lewis -- were always so much more gifted and talented than their opponents to a large degree that they never needed to develop toughness and resiliency until they actually did, and with the whole world watching. LL and Wlad proved their mettle and resiliency for years after being upset sensationally more than once. Can AJ? None of us know until he proves it, but it's not gonna be easy and he's already set for life 20 times over, so now we find out what hes been fighting for all along: pride and legacy or money.

 

I don't think so, my reason for this is I beleive he was helped out in the Takam fight by the Ref. If I rememeber right ,Takam took this fight on 2 weeks notice ? Joshua was gassing badly & IMO ,when the ref stopped it Takam was in no trouble at all!

 

I disagree, I have his number

 

But Tyson LOOKED like a well trained fighting machine.. .. And 2nd and 3rd rate competition he destroyed during his prime yrs. This kid has shown weaknesses that I've called out since he came on the scene. Joshua in no way shape or form can be compared to "Kid Dynamite ". Tyson was more than a few steps above Joshua . And at Joshua's age .... He won't come close to Tyson or any ATG. At 30yrs old he's still trying to Learn to fight. Any ATG at that age it was pretty much instinctive.

 

This

 

hint: AJ didn't win gold, he got gifted gold.

He has been exposed long before Ruiz got to him

However AJ still is a decent unit dealing with Povetkin the way he did...

Ruiz is all wrong for him though.

Ruiz punches with you at speed and has a granite chin.

He is a stylistic NIGHTMARE for AJ.

I think Ruiz stops AJ again.

 

Inexperience. Joshua clearly didn’t do his homework on Ruiz, who is well known for his durability and hand speed. Joshua used the wrong tactics in the fight and played into Ruiz’s strengths and made a textbook rookie mistake by trying to force the knockout on Ruiz. He can win the rematch if he does his homework and fights smart.

 

Mundine could take a shot and had a fairly successful career... after embarrassingly getting knocked out cold by Ottke... that's what temple shots sometimes do, and AJ was fine before that, actually hurting and looking to finish Ruiz off like everyone thought he would.

So no off night and no exposure, it was that strange shot that did it for the rest of the night, though fair play to Ruiz to capitalize on those defensive deficiencies, which is why many of us slightly favored Wilder over AJ anyway.

However, if AJ isn't damaged goods, I don't expect the same lightning strike twice and expect a Lewis-Rahman II turnaround.

 

AJ was to face Miller before he got done for cheating,I want to see how AJ does when he knows from the off he facing Ruiz.
I think in the re-match we will know if it was just an off night or not.

 

This. Having an entire camp focused on fighting Ruiz will make a big difference. In hindsight it would’ve been in Joshua’s best interest for Hearn to have cancelled the event, but on the bright side it did shake up the division a little.

 

Rose colored glasses alert.....

AJ has never fought tall, he likes to trade midrange to up close

AJ never had a fight controlling jab

AJ is packing glass and is mentally weak

AJ will never ever be a conditioning monster

AJ has zero Ring IQ and is as dumb as a box of rocks , period.

AJ is a home town fighter who chokes when abroad......that will never change.

AJ's entire rep is made out to go life and death with shopworn grey haired old guys.........can you imagine if Tyson/Foreman/holyfield had to get off the deck defeating 42 year old glass chinned fossils...........

Last but not least, a washed up Bowe took a absolute hiding against Golata...........Tyson took a beating against Douglas........Corrales/Gatti got beat from pillar to post by FMJ..........but not ONE of them QUIT, they went out on their shield..........the Bodybuilder flat out mentally QUIT when the going got rough against a hand picked fatty who got paid to loose but did not follow the script.

AJ dis and dat.........his mental flaws cannot be corrected in the gym, once he is in the Ring its all himself, no trainer can fight for him and he will fold again like a house of cards, bank on it.

 

Neither. You forcing that duality of narrative options is a huge slap in Ruiz's face.