When was the last time

Duran was like 28 he was in his prime and put in one of the greatest performances ever I don't know if that counts

 

So many greater throughout history. So many.

Recently... Kostya (Hatton)? IIRC Calderon (Segura)? Dawson (Ward)? A big difference is those guys were old and at the end of the run. If this is the end of Joshua's run, then wow that adds another point of emphasis to the affirmative here. Maybe Ruiz sticks around and is far from a one-hit-wonder. But he stands out as significantly and particularly inferior to the opponents which caused the "quit/TKO" I listed above and that you will find in almost all examples. Once again, THAT is why it is so bad for Joshua.

It reminded me very much of Victor "I don't deserve to be getting beat up like this" Ortiz.

I'll be honest with you, I try not to hold it against a fighter for saying "no" any more than if they stayed down past the ten count or if the corner stops it. You know when you are broken.

 

Lacy was getting alot of hype back then. He was favored by many to beat Joe.

 

Correct , I was here on the main board a few years prior to their fight and Jeff was all the Americans were talking about and rating but it wasn't just the Americans rating him if these boxing sites and press experts are to taken notice of , I was literally ridiculed and laughed at on a daily basis when offering the opinion Joe would be too quick for Jeff by posters and sports writers from around the world so that just goes to show how popular Jeff once was and how HUGE an upset it was ( to the majority ).

 

Sometimes people say things they don't mean. Often actions speaker louder than words.

I'm interested; based on all the evidence at the end of that fight: walking away from the ref when asked to walk towards, arms up on the ropes standing in the corner and not forming a guard (the guard he had formed following the previous three KDs), spitting out the mouthpiece etc, do you think he wanted to box on?

 

Kirk you're smarter than that...

Once again I'm not bothered by a boxer who does not continue despite being on his feet. Anyone that does probably hasn't had a grown man lay their knuckles into them or they have and they talk as though they live by a macho attitude while typing away on a keyboard. I do recognize I am in the slim minority, however.

 

Not sure I've ever seen a boxer less interested in carrying on yet still claim they wanted to.

 

Joshua's submission is right up there historically:

1. Ruiz was a late replacement and a heavy underdog
2. The fact he appeared to be out-of-shape was a huge contrast to the Adonis champion
3. The defeat wasn't the result of some lucky hail Mary KO punch
4. The utter one-sided nature of the defeat once Ruiz had got back up from the KD
5. The unusual behaviour of AJ between rounds, asking for help like a novice in his first half a dozen fights not a multi-belt titlist
6. Four KDs emphasised the unexpected beat down
7. Rather than going back to fight until he was rendered incapable of doing so, he loitered in the corner resigned to his fate
8. The fight was meant to be his coming out party in the US further exaggerated the impact of the loss

All the above can be rendered all but irrelevant and it's historical context changed if AJ wins the rematch, much like Lewis' losses to McCall and Rahman, people will say 'yeah but look what he did when they fought again'...

 

Klitschko vs Sanders. Two round utter destruction. Sanders wasn't even prime , Ruiz was.