Will This L Make Joshua Better Or Have We Seen His High Water Mark?

[LacedUp]

it was bad.... he got destroyed, in america by an al haymon fighter, he showed some terrible vulnerabilities as well that fighters will capatalize of of but his heart is what was the worst of it all, he QUIT

One thing is for sure, and that is we won’t be seeing AJ in America anytime soon

[BangEM]

AJ has to be 1st. Don't ever let Andy feel comfortable or take a forward step without being punished. AJ was way too lax and defensive. No need for that.

And bending down...WTF. Bending down right into his shorter mans range !!!

Land your combo and pivot or take A step back.

He gave every advantage away
Ruiz exploited the situation

Now we have to hear/read about how a fat slob beat up a gym rat

He has always been terrible against shorter guys and with a guy like Ruiz with fast hands, fighting short as the taller guy won’t work because he’s fast than Josh.

More reason why he needs to change his coach. He also needs better conditioning and less muscle mass.

It’s life, when you suffer defeat or face any obstacle, people will write you off. That’s just the history of man. How you bounce back is going to show what you’re made of.

He’s going to lose a lot of endorsements as well. I feel for him tho. Hopefully he win the rematch in style and crack on from there.

[BangEM]

But it wasn't down to him mentally breaking, just his body.

Different case with Joshua, he was broken mentally.

The spitting of gum shield, the running to your corner, looking for help, holding on to the ropes.

Your body recovers, very difficult to change the mindset of someone who quits when the going gets tough.

He was tired and Ruiz hit him with some great body shots that zapped air out of him.

He spit the thing out to buy time but the ref called it off. He didn’t quit.

[EnglishOxide]

One thing is for sure, and that is we won’t be seeing AJ in America anytime soon

Not so sure about that one. DAZN might want to capitalise on those new Mexican fans now who were unsubscribing in between Canelo fights.

They may offer a fortune to keep the fight in the US.

[Motofan]

It's gonna be tough. Joshua was totally gassed out by the fourth round from very little actual activity. His chin has been exposed and he straight up quit when things got hard. Not like he took a one shot ko that you can just chalk up to "it's boxing". Outside of a knockdown and about three good shots it all went wrong tonight.

[Motofan]

He was tired and Ruiz hit him with some great body shots that zapped air out of him.

He spit the thing out to buy time but the ref called it off. He didn’t quit.

Oh he absolutely quit. The ref kept asking him to walk to him. For like twenty seconds. Joshua wouldn't get off the ropes. He tried everything to give Joshua a chance to continue. If this fight was in the UK we'd all still be watching the local ref just waiting on AJ.

[Scopedog]

I don't know, but I don't like the odds. Pretty much every signal he sent off during and after this fight was bad. Maybe this will all light a fire in him but the way he conducted himself in the post match interview and how he responded to getting hurt and dropped made it seem like he'd already accepted and come to terms with the fact that he was going to lose well before the actual end of the fight. Every circumstance around the fight is just another layer of damage too, with the people who accused him of being a sheltered UK fighter who couldn't hack it on the road being vindicated, the opponent being a last-minute replacement lardass-looking short guy who wasn't really on anybody's radar other than the hardcores until now, plus the fact that there's plenty of people who think he was ducking Wilder (I'm not going to open that can of worms myself in this thread, but right or wrong that is what many people think.)

All of that is going to be a lot to set right if he's going to regain the same esteem that he had. In fact I think it's going to be downright impossible for him to regain that tier of prestige without beating either Fury or Wilder first. And before he can even think about that he has to rally and take his belts back off of Ruiz in the rematch. That alone is going to be a big feat mentally following this kind of shock, Ruiz is going to be even more confident the second time around and is probably going to get better by virtue of being the champ, so if anything the rematch is going to be harder regardless of whether it's held in the US or the UK, but especially if Hearn can't get it in the UK - not inconceivable given that Ruiz is backed by Al Haymon and has all of a sudden become one of his most valuable assets. If Joshua loses to him again it's almost certainly all over for him at the top and I could see him going into a downward spiral similar to the one David Price went into following his second loss to Kevin Johnson. He has to deal with all the mental pressure that comes with that kind of last-chance-saloon style fight while at the same time fixing the flaws in his game that lead to the first loss. He can get a new trainer, a good sports psychologist and all the king's horses and all the king's men that Eddy can afford but at the end of the day all the pressure is going to be centred on him, and to me he doesn't seem to be the type that handles adversity very well. Let's face it, he's had a fairly easy ride to get to where he was before this fight, all things considered.

[LacedUp]

Not so sure about that one. DAZN might want to capitalise on those new Mexican fans now who were unsubscribing in between Canelo fights.

They may offer a fortune to keep the fight in the US.

He doesn’t travel well it seems. Doubt they’ll take that risk again anytime soon.

[IMDAZED]

Tough to say. This is not comparable to Lennox Lewis at all. Just a lot of bad signs as someone said above. His chin is far weaker than Lennox’s. His stamina is really bad. Seems the cas out of the bag. Wilder is all wrong for him and Fury’s IQ is light years ahead of his. So where do you go from here? Back to the UK for a long time.

[Richard]

I don't think "super-star" and "best fighter" are always the same thing. AJ is/was probably the closest to being a superstar at HW, if not already perceived as one. He is the cash-cow after all.

After tonight though it certainly gives Wilder/Fury more leveraging power in the future possible negotiations with Joshua. Certainly for me a Fury/Wilder fight against Joshua doesnt have the same allure now.I feel had Wilder/Fury fought last night I think both may have been tested by Ruiz who had ability but both would have won?