Was AJ win over Andy Ruiz a boxing masterclass?

It was more akin to keeping a pig away with the stick.

 

He looked uncomfortable against an obese 5'8" midget

He should have had fun in there if he was any good, he's not a natural.

 

No, Ruiz by his own admission barely trained at all, he came into the fight completely unfit and even more obese than usual

Joshua was cautious engaging with a shell of a man, not a masterclass by any means

 

He could run but not hide.....

 

No.

 

Had Ruiz been in the best shape of his life (not losing a lot of fat, just a bit and training hard for once) he could have beaten AJ in the rematch. AJ was nervous as hell and there for the taking.

 

Masterclass is way too big a word.

But he deserves a bit more credit for it than he gets, leastways on these pages, I dunno about anywhere else. There were big question marks over his ability to enact that gameplan, to keep up that kind of movement for the long haul, nobody really knew whether he could pull it off, but some were certainly ruling it out and saying he'd wear down and gas if he danced for 12. Factor in the mental and emotional wounds that go with the nature of the defeat, which took the form of a somewhat humiliating spectacle, and that he boxed dazed for several rounds after being hurt in the 3rd and endured extended punishment with multiple visits to the canvas. He showed some mettle to overcome that compound of factors. There was no small amount of expectation that he would flop.

If the knock is that he didn't enact the same gameplan as the first fight, we're criticizing him for not allowing Ruiz to hurt and stop him again.

It's unreasonable to expect Joshua to become proficient and relaxed enough at slipping/trading punches to stand in front of a Mexican with fast hands, good timing and composure in the firefight and exchange with him after Ruiz had thrived on that scenario in the first encounter. So that leaves getting on the bike and stacking up points with the jab.

It wasn't spectacular, it wasn't masterful, but it was a challenge for Joshua and he completed it. There's a solid enough kudos in that.

 

It was a good performance where he showed some of the lesser appreciated skills in his arsenal.

But the definition of "masterclass" has been lost to suggestions like this...

 

AJ could have brought a Snickers bar into that fight and had Ruiz chasing that around the ring.

Standing outside punch range keeping Porky Pig at the end of a jab for 12 rounds does not compare to standing in the pocket and using footwork and head movement to set up combinatiions, counters and avoiding punches, without hugging. This is why Floyd's "wins" weren't masterclasses - he fought hand picked fighters who he beat by throwing single punches and then clinching.

 

The perfect summation of that fight.

 

Usyk's win was a masterclass performance.

 

It's so confusing...now I don't know if your hate for Joshua comes from your inner love for Fury, or Wilder.

Halp.

 

Masterclass is Usyk's performance against bodybuilder.

Bodybuilder escaped from burger merchant the whole night.

 

I always said AJ wasn't that good, Ruiz was that bad in the second fight. How was coming in heavier going to help him? He didn't need the weight, just had to work on cutting off the ring. He was slower and unable to counter. All it was, was an excuse for his lack of training.