Some Thoughts on the Fight and Going Forward....

1. I'm sorry, but if you admit that you were not in terrible shape and trained yourself or did things your way, you do NOT deserve an immediate third fight. Congrats on getting 16M from these two fights and getting another guaranteed big purse down the road, but Ruiz should NOT be getting a big fight after that performance....At least not next. I saw some documentary series or something on YouTube yesterday where during the Wilder/Ortiz fight, he was killing some pizza and some Mexican food just two weeks before this fight. He got what he deserved in the rematch. 2. Joshua looked so much more fluid without the extra mass. The style may not have been exciting, but it's EXACTLY what he needed to do. He showed he can fight going backwards and had a perfect game plan. It's great to know you can bring out this style when need be. 3. If Joshua fights Wilder, I'm not sure if this is the best style to fight him with. The reason is because this style will allow Wilder to stay in the fight and he just needs one somewhat clean shot to end the fight. Maybe against Wilder, Joshua would be better off trying to get him out of there early when Wilder starts out a bit slow. 4. If Fury beats Wilder in February and their third fight is not next, this is going to be an INSANE fight in the UK. Won't be the most exciting of fights, but one where both fighters try to stay on the outside and get their shots off. Another fight where Joshua may be better suited to try to be a little more aggressive and get his shots off and hurt Fury. 5. For Joshua to have THIS type of performance THIS type of transformation only six months after the first fight speaks volumes of his character and heart. A lot of fans got mad at how he responded post-fight but he stayed humble and didn't make excuses and just went back in the gym and got better. It is clear he needed to lost some mass as that impacted his stamina and he did just that and used a style he had never used in his career prior to this fight. Much respect to Femi! 6. Who does Joshua fight next? Likely will be Pulev as Hearn controls Usyk and even though he can call for a mandatory shot, I don't think that happens. Hearn will have Usyk fight someone like Chisora next while Joshua fights Pulev and then looks to fight either the winner of Wilder/Fury or Usyk.

Comments (20)

A lighters Joshua looks a lot scarier than the muscle bound Joshua. Id wager he can probably hit harder at this weight also. He looked much quicker, his stamina was better. If he had the confidence to really sit down on his shots and put them together he probably could have stopped andy. With all of that said, can we acknowledge how clearly roided out of his mind Joshua was in the first fight, and how much more natural he looked doing a camp off the juice. Its comical.

6y ago

springfiels

you are overrating wilder's power. stiverne went the full 12 rounds with wilder. fury beat wilder and in the process took wilder's best shots and recovered. wilder is severely limited and can win only one way Joshua has been down by Wlad and Ruiz and rocked bad by Dillian... I'm certain Wilder landing clean would have him bang in trouble. I'm no Wilder fan, but you have to respect his power and poise plus he has also shown a chin. Listen imo, those 3 can provide an amazing set of fights if they'll just start fighting each other. All have different world class skill sets, look the part and have charisma. Its all set.

6y ago

The_Gambler1981

Joshua fought the right fight and it certainly defused Ruiz. I don't think it was tricky or complicated he just needed to do simple things well and limit Ruiz and his chance of winning were very high. Now he did do excellent and dominated the fight so can't hate on that. I just don't think much can be read into it, he might beat Wilder boxing him but I still thin he tactically speaking is very straight forward and his boxing is not complicated to figure out (unlike Fury). So there is a lot of danger in that fight, sure he can win but that is a dangerous fight. I don't think he stands a chance boxing Fury, if he tries to box Fury he will look very bad. Maybe if he fights aggressively but even then I think Fury has the answer for him. I do like Joshua slimmed down though, I don't think he had to work overly hard to really test his stamina but he did seem better off as a boxer with less bulk which makes sense. He wasn't in with anyone that was going to really put that to the test with an even more obese Ruiz but it looked better. How much though to see because what it was compared to in the ring.

6y ago

sicko

... The Most OVERRATED F#CKING ERA of Heavyweights I've ever seen and I'm talking about ALL OF THEM! Thanks to Social Media and Forums like this, fans are able to express their Man Crush Groupie Love for their favorite fighters :lol1: Now that doesn't mean they're not good but they all have Fans who just hype these Men way too much as if these are All Time Great Fighters when neither are even close to establishing themselves as such They ALL need to fight each other and if they don't then they eliminate themselves from ever being in that All Time Great Conversation. I don't care who fans think is ducking, if you're just pointing fingers and you're not pushing either to fight each other then you're the problem. AJ fans should push for him to fight Wilder, Wilder Fans should push for him to fight AJ...however it doesn't end after that. By the time they fight you will have Usyk, Hrgrovic, Daniel Dubois, Tony Yoka and all these younger guys licking their chops wanting a piece of that action because I'm sure they all see the flaws in AJ and Wilder that everybody else sees and will feel like they can exploit it AJ was very passive about Wilder after this fight. However, I do think DAZN and different Countries will throw around just astronomical site fee so I do think something will get worked out and we will get that fight IF Wilder beats Fury and that is a BIG IF. Saudi's paying what they paid for Ruiz vs AJ II kinda somewhat sets the going rate. Wilder vs AJ obviously is worth way more than AJ vs Andy so we shall see what type of offers come in

6y ago

KTFOKING

I actually think something along these lines is how he should fight Wilder, he can out box and out jab Wilder and slowly break him down. Just stay away from the right hand, AJ has a lot more in the arsenal and if he catches Wilder clean, he can go for the finish. Wilder doesn't have near the hand speed Ruiz does and is not the same kind of threat when hurt. Obviously if you get caught with the right though, it's curtains. Don't think this style would work well against Fury though. You need to go at him aggressively, push the pace and try to blast Fury out of there. AJ ain't winning a boxing match against him, but he also doesn't need to be concerned about what's coming back at him compared to these other guys. As you've said, I think AJ/Pulev at New White Hart Lane will be the fight for Spring/Summer. Wilder and Fury will probably have a trilogy. Usyk/Chisora in February, Parker gets a tuneup, then Parker/Usyk for the vacant WBO. If Usyk wins, he unifies with Joshua at the end of the year. Things get a bit trickier if Parker beats Usyk, cuz I'm not sure what the clamor would be for AJ/Parker 2 with the guys bringing in the exact same belts as last time. I think if Parker won that belt, you could actually see him fight Whyte again, or even go after whomever is the WBC champ at the time in a unification. If Parker somehow wins THAT fight, then a mega in house unification with AJ for all the belts becomes a much more significant fight. Joshua will need to mix it up, but will have to box in spots for sure. The problem with that is as I've mentioned a few times, keeping Wilder in the fight for 12 rounds is a VERY dangerous game. And while Wilder isn't quite as fast as Ruiz, he does have quick enough hands and more importantly has the length that Ruiz does not. It's a tough fight for both fighters. I don't see Joshua vacating the WBO. He fights Pulev next May and then fights Usyk later in the year.

6y ago

KTFOKING

you are overrating wilder's power. stiverne went the full 12 rounds with wilder. fury beat wilder and in the process took wilder's best shots and recovered. wilder is severely limited and can win only one way There is no such thing as overrating Wilder's power, it's most definitely special. Stiverne did take his shots and props to him, but Wilder was trying to more so just box him. But Fury hardly got touched against Wilder and when he did, he went down.

6y ago

BigZ44

6y ago

Mammoth

With the IBF and WBO mandos both called I kinda get the feeling the IBF mando will be defended at Wembley against Pulev and the WBO will be vacated and Usyk vs Parker will be made. Winners will meet at the end of next year.

6y ago

Joe_Beamish

Joshua ain’t NEVER fighting Wilder or Fury. That we know.

6y ago

MASTER_OF_you

6y ago

DeJulez23

Of course, they all have flaws and all can be beaten. Fury is probably the most talented of them all but he lacks pop. Wilder is the worst boxer of the three but he has game ending power and good timing. Joshua is the best mixture of boxer/puncher from the three but his chin isn't the best. I don't like giving hypothetical wins, they need to all face off to see who truly is the top dog. That was my mindset even after the Ruiz fight where people tried giving Wilder the unofficially win. Nah, that's not how it works. I agree. Wilder and Fury are on separate ends of the spectrum with Joshua right in the middle. Styles make fights. Well see what happens after Wilder-Fury II,

6y ago

KTFOKING

The style Joshua used in this fight was strictly for Ruiz as Ruiz is short, fat and has no reach or jab..would not work with Wilder or Fury nor would that be the game plan imo Right, but the fact Joshua CAN bring this style out against certain opponents is big. Like against Pulev he can do the same thing until something opens up and take him out. He will have less shaky moments going forward knowing he can fight a style against certain opponents without hardly getting touched. That's huge.

6y ago

KTFOKING

AJ has a shot against Fury and Wilder. Fury was bleeding all over in the Otto fight. Wilders lost what 15 of the last 20 rounds hes fought, until the right hand ended the fight/saved him with a draw. All these guys have shown they can be beat on any given night. Of course, they all have flaws and all can be beaten. Fury is probably the most talented of them all but he lacks pop. Wilder is the worst boxer of the three but he has game ending power and good timing. Joshua is the best mixture of boxer/puncher from the three but his chin isn't the best. I don't like giving hypothetical wins, they need to all face off to see who truly is the top dog. That was my mindset even after the Ruiz fight where people tried giving Wilder the unofficially win. Nah, that's not how it works.

6y ago

LarryX

The style Joshua used in this fight was strictly for Ruiz as Ruiz is short, fat and has no reach or jab..would not work with Wilder or Fury nor would that be the game plan imo

6y ago

DeJulez23

6y ago

KTFOKING

Yeah AJ Vs Pulev homecoming fight at Tottenham ground in May time, between football season and Euro 2020 sounds a good shout... Good points above. This makes me think AJ Vs Fury would be a lot more competitive than people thought. AJ could hang with Fury in a boxing match, and Fury always gets tagged himself and AJ has the power to hurt him. Wilder is just something different, and a special case for anyone. You really do have to be perfect, and AJ always gets tagged too. Wilders power is something else. But Joshua having this style in his back pocket to go to if he needs it is so valuable. Now he can truly switch it up fight by fight depending on the opponent. Wilder can really only fight one way, but if you don't go to take him out, you are giving him a lot of time to just land one of his big shots. Joshua finally got the right build he needed by losing that extra mass. He should come in like this every single fight the rest of his career. Fury fight to me was always competitive. Fury isn't going to just knock Joshua out and Joshua has enough boxing ability to win rounds off of him. Enough to beat him? I don't know, only one way to tell.

6y ago

springfiels

6y ago

KTFOKING

Next year is Pulev and Usyk, I have no doubt about that. I also have no issues with it. No one should. Fury vs Wilder may fight part three right after the rematch.

6y ago

Mammoth

Next year is Pulev and Usyk, I have no doubt about that. I also have no issues with it.

6y ago

KTFOKING

they've already called the mando tho. within the last hour. Sure, and IBF called for Joshua/Ruiz winner to face Pulev before the end of May. Joshua can fight Pulev next and then Usyk after that. Usyk can fight Chisora while Joshua fights Pulev.

6y ago