What's next for AJ: rematch or rebuild?

Well considering he said he is 100 percent invoking the rematch clause. his next fight is a rematch with Ruiz

You would be silly not to.

 

Just posted very similar regarding rematch clause and two tick-overs. Every heavyweight will be fancying their chances all of a sudden against AJ, he needs to tune up his defence, drop some muscle mass and build his confidence back up. It’s a fascinating time now...is he going to come back like great heavyweights do or is he going to mentally fold? I’m very much pro Fury and believe he’s the best heavyweight in the world but this new vulnerability from Joshua has made me like him a lot more than I did, strangely. Always rated him but couldn’t take to him. I think he’s gonna come good again if he’s managed correctly by McCracken and Hearn.

 

AJ should go back to the basics and perfect them he has limitations so focus on the things he can excel at and make them the weapons.

Basically adopt the Vlad Jab and grab style.

 

lel, Al Haymon may have something to say about that. This ain't Brentwood anymore Dorothy.

It's over folks, MR fans are still in the "denial" phase of grieving.

 

In a business sense, he'd probably be wise to take another fight or two first before the Ruiz rematch, tune up a bit defensively, get a good KO victory or two, build the confidence back up then go for the rematch sometime later next year. But in a sporting sense, he should definitely go after the rematch straight away. If he was at the top of the pile yesterday then one defeat shouldn't define you as useless today. He should go out to right the wrongs of last night's fight if he can. But that is a big IF. As I've said in another thread, if that was Joshua genuinely prepared and focused on this fight, then he has serious problems if he could lose to Ruiz so emphatically. But in my honest opinion, I do think Joshua didn't take this fight seriously enough and got complacent, maybe not in training camp, but he did during the fight itself. That's my honest opinion, I'm no Joshua fanboy making excuses for him or anything but I do think the rematch will be different.

There's definitely stamina issues with Joshua though which need to, and I think, will do, be addressed. He gassed very early on. I'm asking myself did he gas out so early because he got hurt, or did he get hurt that bad cos he was gassing out early? It was such a strange performance from Joshua, where so much went wrong, that makes me think the rematch will be different. He has a lot of obvious flaws to improve on, which I think will be. I could see him beating Ruiz in the rematch, but in a very cautious and careful manner. The version of Joshua, tactically and mentally, that beat Parker, would beat Ruiz IMO. But after a defeat like that, he might not be the same, mentally, again. It was a devastating loss at the end of the day. It's how he comes back from it that will be the measure of him. Add that last line to the annoying boxing clichés thread ; )

 

Rematch Ruiz. Drop down to 17 stone. Fight cautious, use the jab and don't go for the early KO. Just watching the Skelton and Sprott fights, and there's no way that version is losing against Ruiz. So explosive and fast.

 

I don't think dropping 15-20 lbs will be a solution as you can't just lose a stone+ of muscle without losing some positive traits.

 

The problem with taking the rematch straight away is that if he gets knocked out again, then he becomes like David Price was after the Tony Thompson loss.

An immediate rematch means risking his entire career on beating Ruiz Jr in a rematch.

It is a lot lower risk to face 1-2 rebuilding fights prior to a rematch or another title challenge

There isn’t a trainer like steward around to teach him how to be that ultimate super HW champion.

 

lol, clown, he lost against him last night, badly.

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He needs to make the rematch next otherwise Wilder is going to get those belts off of Ruiz and AJ could get froze out.

 

Rematch or rebuild? After watching that performance, you could throw "Retire" into the mix for the multi-millionaire.

 

Only he knows how well he prepared for Ruiz, but I don't think we should be looking at this with some idea that anything short term is low risk. What if he loses a 'rebuilding' fight?

 

The man has no option in my opinion, it can only be a rematch. To fight anyone else risks those belts getting tied up in another promoters hands. Ruiz Jr isn't going to sit around and wait for AJ to get ready. Don't forget Fury needs a dance partner after Schwarz.

And at that, to fight someone else would be to admit that AJ the Adonis was rightly beaten by Andy the Overweight. The narrative is, we made a massive blunder, we're better than that, we will come back and prove it.

AJ is a millionaire many, many, many times over. His endorsements are based on this fine specimen of a man also being the baddest man on the planet. Losing the belts to Wilder or Fury maybe isn't such a big deal for that gravy train, but losing to a Men's Health 'before' picture is.

People love AJ, but he's an Olympic gold medalist and, until last weekend the unified heavyweight champ with a solid CV. Tune ups won't fly.

 

If he doesn't get the rematch, he certainly risks being froze out. There would be no benefit to fighting him without the belts and that massive reputation - which arguably will take years to build back. He has to go for the rematch, and if he doesn't win (it isn't a given either), then he chooses to retire a very wealthy man or spends 2-3 years in obscurity rebuilding his career.