Was Joshua beating about him being better or ruiz out of shape

Yes, I see there first fight as a Saunders vs Wlad situation

 

Joshua was way way smarter and it wouldn’t have made an ounce of difference if Ruiz had come into the fight in his best shape ever.

Joshua had to fight smart because there was simply too much at stake to fight any other way!

Finally, it’s not Joshua’s responsibility to get Ruiz in shape!
AJ trained to fight a fit Ruiz, AJ trained for 8 weeks to employ his chosen fight tactics and Ruiz turning up in terrible shape made no difference. Joshua went about his job in a professional manner and stuck to the fight tactics he’d trained for, blame Ruiz for being a fat pudding not Joshua.

 

Depends if Ruiz is fighting on a empty stomach.

 

It was both.

But AJ gets big props for that performance

 

Both.

Actually thought it was a poor win from joshua. Pretty much revealed his true level. In order to beat ruiz he basically had to run away all night.

Its a win but without sounding negative....which heavyweight being billed as a monster...gets knocked out in embarrasing fashion comes back to avenge his loss by running and being scared to exchange. Smart tactics tbf...but did kind of reveal his true level.

 

I see your point but disagree.
No matter how good you are at any one thing, there’s always someone better than you. Ruiz had much better hand speed and accuracy in the first fight, AJ found a way to counter his inefficiencies and won the second fight.
Didn’t avenge getting KO’d by dishing out a KO of his own but still showed who the better fighter is.

Nor defending AJ, by the way, I actually hate him somewhat. Floyd was labelled genius for actually running and pot shotting so same principles should apply.

 

Think its more because hes been billed and marketed as a hard hitting heavyweight that up till ruiz no one could last against. Knocked out klitchko, whyte, povetkin etc. People we,re starting to believe he was as good as billed. Then the first fight happened....i think people are willing to put it down to an off night...just took a heavy shot and couldnt quite recover. Instead wegot him running away from an overweight andy ruiz.

Ruiz is neither a heavy puncher or a man that should be ran away from tbh. If hes needing to do that to get a win...there will be problems ahead.

Ruiz pretty much showed joshuas not nearly as good as people thought. Joshua had a chance to make a statement...he needed a statement instead we got an aversge job of running away from a very overweight ruiz. Witout matchroom hyping his performance in that second fight...its defo not a statement he needed. Hes just another heavyweight now. One with big weaknesses. Strengths as well....but it looked to me in order to win he hsd to surrender his status a bit. Which is slightly worrying for the future. Especially since it was an average performance at best.

Just my opinion tho.

 

Well he is a hard hitting heavyweight so that part was accurate but Ruiz is as fat as he is quick and skilled.
AJ definitely underestimated him in the first fight, much like many others, and paid the price for it. He wanted to make a statement and failed. He also could’ve managed the second fight better, but chose to play it safe since 2nd loss to Ruiz would probably ruin him. Understandable.

That said I’m sick of fighters being labelled untouchable monsters and then being hyped up to unreal levels, then they go out and protect their 0’s like whole world depends on it and we get **** matchups and even worse performances at times.

 

You think it wouldn't have made "an ounce of difference" if Ruiz trained like he was fighting for his life and came in around 250 in career best shape vs. almost no training 282 lb pizza body?

Ruiz was going to come forward no matter what Joshua did. He needs a good gas tank to fight that style, and adding a weighted vest and a disinterested attitude made it impossible. Joshua did what he had to do, but it certainly wasn't a virtuoso performance. He looked timid and shell shocked against an opponent that quite literally could not have been fatter.

 

Some posters on this thread need to rewatch both fights. If Ruiz had come in shredded with a six pack to that rematch he’d have still been beat. Likewise if hed have come in at 282 for the first fight the same events would have occurred.

The blueprint is there, box him at range and dont stand and trade or you’ll get battered. Joshua actually tried this on a couple of occasions in round 4 and 8 of the rematch and got blasted. You just cant stand and trade with him and Joshua was smart enough to not do that. The shape Ruiz was in made little to no difference

 

Joshua is better than Ruiz. But in the first fight he got caught in an exchange. I think it's more or less that simple.
That doesn't mean Ruiz isn't better than Joshua in some aspects, but overall Joshua has the net advantages, something that wasn't really questioned before the first fight. We all just got a little treat, a funny upset when Joshua was going to 'take over America'. But Joshua was always a better HW, as he should be given the massive size difference. Even in a reckless fighting style I think Joshua would win 7 or 8 out of 10 times, land the bigger shots. But definitely if he just boxes safely Ruiz can't do much. Even if Ruiz comes 'in shape' he's still a fat pig with slow feet and MW reach.

 

Does he best Ruiz if not in Dubai is the better question?

 

Joshua ran from a fat slob with tits who relatively is a midget compared to him who beat on him like pimp beating a defenseless hooker. Nothing can be worse than that.

 

He still would have outpointed Ruiz. He has height, and reach on Ruiz, while Ruiz is shorter and doesn't have the style to box with a taller, rangier guy.