Honestly you guys cant just play this off Joshua not only lost but drop 4× and stopped by a replacement fighter.
Ruiz has proven he is a live fighter but cmon this was not suppost to happend.
Wilder lost to Fury but got a gift draw but again he lost to Tyson Fury and legit almost stopped Fury.
Joshua dropped Ruiz but still he was not only getting outboxed but also knocked all over the ring.
Lewis lost
Wlad lost
Vitali lost
They didn’t turn out bad
It’s how you react, rematch is a must win and he needs to change a few things
They all lost in primes yes but not to a fill in opponents and Ruiz just had a fight 1 month and some change ago at the the of April smh.
What do you want us to say about it? You saw what we saw. I have a suspicion he got serious stage fright or had an anxiety attack or something before the fight cuz something wasn't quite right and it set my alarm bells ringing before the fight even started.
And that's not looking for excuses. Handling the pressure is part of the job.
He's been hit before and been fine. Only two fighters have ever put him in that state - Wlad and Ruiz. Both were when he was going for the kill and got caught trading punches. His reaction to both was terrible - lost his legs and showed the world he was hurt.
I still wonder whether the common point there is the big occasion. Do his legs turn to **** because the shot is compounded by his fear of losing on the big stage?
I'm not even sure it's something that can be addressed. Except to not get sucked into trading - just break fighters down. He's a very good boxer after all.
Joshua got exposed, but that doesn't mean he can't fix this. Lewis has lost, Klitschko as well, etc.
He can come back from this, but he has to have a real sit down with his team, watch the video and see if he needs to make changes with his training staff all around.
Let's just give Andy Ruiz, Jr. His credit. They had a plan for the fight, executed it a d was game from the start of the 1st bell.
I am not a Joshua fan. But I feel if AJ can win the rematch, this fight will actually make him a more attractive prospect going forward. This may be what was needed to make some of the BIG fights happen. That's fine with me! I knew AJ was open to this happening, just didn't expect it to come against anyone not named Fury or Wilder.
He isn’t very good, whether you’re a fan or not. Neither are Wilder or Fury. Neither was Klit.
Not for nothing, but Wladimir reigned for 10 years, and his reinvented self would've never gotten defeated by the likes of Ruiz.
AJ still can do the same in the re invention department.
Lewis lost
Wlad lost
Vitali lost
They didn’t turn out bad
It’s how you react, rematch is a must win and he needs to change a few things
Lewis and Wlad yes, but Vitali never lost like that, in both of his losses he was up on the cards and the fight was stopped due to injury.
Honestly you guys cant just play this off Joshua not only lost but drop 4× and stopped by a replacement fighter.
Ruiz has proven he is a live fighter but cmon this was not suppost to happend.
Wilder lost to Fury but got a gift draw but again he lost to Tyson Fury and legit almost stopped Fury.
Joshua dropped Ruiz but still he was not only getting outboxed but also knocked all over the ring.I was an AJ fan but I had already changed my mind about him beating Wilder after Wilder looked so devastating KOing Breazeale. I knew he had weaknesses but he had lots of very good wins over Whyte, Povetkin, Wlad, Parker and others so clearly he can fight and punch. Ruiz was much better than expected and did a number on him. Ruiz has only one close loss to Parker and maybe he is better now than ever. It's no sure thing anybody can beat Ruiz now. The rematch will show if AJ can fix his flaws enough to win. Probably not.
We will see what happens when he gets the rematch, see if he can improve, and that he does indeed need to do, if he goes in the same way he did this time, it will just go the same way.
Ruiz saw his chance and took it, and I'm happy for the guy. The better fighter won and there is no doubting that at the moment.
I do not agree that Joshua is done as of yet though, there are plenty of fighters out there that lost but come back better, Joshua needs to step up now and sort out his weaknesses otherwise it's all over for him.
There's nothing to play off, he got beat down and exposed. End of story.
Anyone making excuses is a fanboy not a fan.
As a fan of his all I can hope for is that he properly evaluates what went wrong and figures out what changes to make. He can come back from this but he's got to start doing things differently, I've always been frustrated by his lack of a dominant and busy jab. He needs to study Wlad and Lewis and see how big men with "shaky" chins fought. He evidently can't just rush in to finish guys off and leave himself open, going forward he needs to be cautious..... soften them up with jab and occasional right hand then go in for the kill when you're certain the opponent is done. Basically become Wlad because he hasn't got the chin to be in fire fights.
Anyway he lost but I never saw him as this unbeatable ATG guy in the making, but my expectations of him have been force-ably readjusted. Not so sure he'd beat Wilder now cause I feel he would never recover from a Wilder right hand (might not even have to be a clean shot to end him). But slip ups happen, who would have thought Lewis would go on to achieve all he did after getting chinned by McCall.
Life goes on and I'll be rooting hard for him in the rematch.
For me losing isn't the issue, any fighter can be beaten. It's the lack of fight he showed when things got tough that concerns me.
If you lose the heart to fight when it's tough, it's all over.
It's the heavyweight division, every single fighter there is one punch away from getting stopped.
Smh at some of the people on here, a fighter loses a fight they're called bums, overrated etc. Then we complain when these fighters in turn duck each other.
Well i’m not an AJ fan, but don’t dislike him either...
What can be said about it? He was just outclassed by Andy Ruiz, it wasn’t even just a lucky shot or something. He got outclassed completely, apart from scoring a knockdown. We can point to other big heavyweight losses, but usually they’re not being beaten in every department from round one.
I’ve never been sold on Joshua as a great fighter or the no.1 but I certainly thought he had enough to get past Ruiz but it’s evident that he doesn’t and i’m not even sure a rematch is any different. On last nights showing, i think Ruiz might just have his number.
I was a Joshua fan but he is not as good as I thought and Ruis is better than I thought. After Wilder looked so good KOing Breazeale I had switched my pick and had Wilder beating AJ. Now of course I think Wilder would beat AJ. AJ lacks speed, stamina and chin and Ruiz really showed that. AJ does have lots of good wins to his credit and he can fight some. He just isn't the very best and loses to Ruiz, Wilder and probably Fury. I think he will lose the rematch with Ruiz. The rematch will show if he can improve his weak points or not but boxers his age with his experience seldom improve much. Ruiz has only a close loss to Parker so maybe nobody can beat him now even if he was supposed to lose. He proved himself and he is the champ now. It is no sure thing that anyone can beat him now. He is the champ.