Why did Joshua lose?

[j0zef]

He was acting bizarre the whole fight. The ring wall was delayed, he didn't wave to anyone. Had mouthpiece out of his mouth when the fight started. The ref told him to put the mouthpiece back in. His talks with corner were awkward from the beginning.. He had no idea what he was doing. After he lost he was giddy posing for photos with ruiz and his trainers.. Who stood there like like uhhh wtf? Grabbed the mic out of Chris's hands. And Chris was like uhm, okayyy..

My theory is that he either snapped due to pressure or was on something. Wouldn't be surprised if he comes back positive for some sort of a drug in a few days. We'll see.

[Tutsa]

No chin , no heart and has zero defense !! He will never be champ again should’ve fought wilder last year took the money !! Exposed over hyped Robot!

[Guest]

Bro I never liked AJ, And felt he was ducking top competition...and for obvious reasons now.

Eddie Hearn tried to play games and that **** caught up with the both of em.

I think his resume is actually decent, tbh. Not GREAT, but almost inarguably greater than the other two names in the division, if you consider the guy's only had 23 fights.

[Combat Talk Radio]

I'm shocked to find out that Ruiz beat Joshua last night. Why did Joshua lose? Was he not prepared, since Ruiz was a replacement for Miller, is Ruiz a bad style match-up for him, or is Joshua just not as good as advertised?

Funny this. I told everyone here almost three years ago why Joshua lost last night.

Joshua struggles in the pocket. He has to set up from range in order to use his power. We saw that against Breazeale.

Times when Joshua was effective in every fight he's had, he's been at max range. It's almost like he can't measure different ranges for different shot power. He's always looking for the specific range that benefits him. Like he never learned how to generate power at different ranges. Meanwhile, he's never done a great job protecting the body.

Ruiz just bullied in and went to work.

My opinion: whatever shot Ruiz first landed solid knocked equilibrium out of whack and it was target practice from there.

[Enzo Mc is SHIT]

I do think something was off and I suspect the reason Joshua's dad went for Eddie after the fight was that he wasn't fit to fight. No idea if it was physical or mental, but his behaviour was extremely strange.

But fighters fight with problems all the time. Joshua went ahead with the fight and Ruiz's game plan was both clever and brave. He was leading, allowing Joshua to counter, then countering the counter. A risky tactic but it was something Joshua had never seen before, wasn't good enough to deal with, and took him from a top 15 heavyweight to having a case for being in the top 3 in the space of 20 minutes.

Basically I don't think that was Joshua at 100%, I think weaknesses were exposed, but Ruiz was exceptional on the night in terms of both quality and heart and deserves all the credit. I hope Ruiz wins the rematch and extinguishes any doubt. Whatever happens, he's made his family very wealthy. Brilliant night.

[club fighter]

Speed beats power.

[SplitSecond]

He was acting bizarre the whole fight. The ring wall was delayed, he didn't wave to anyone. Had mouthpiece out of his mouth when the fight started. The ref told him to put the mouthpiece back in. His talks with corner were awkward from the beginning.. He had no idea what he was doing. After he lost he was giddy posing for photos with ruiz and his trainers.. Who stood there like like uhhh wtf? Grabbed the mic out of Chris's hands. And Chris was like uhm, okayyy..

My theory is that he either snapped due to pressure or was on something. Wouldn't be surprised if he comes back positive for some sort of a drug in a few days. We'll see.

If anything he was probably nervous coming in clean and lacking the usual confidence the ridiculuous test boost gear gives you.

Besides that, tactically it didnt look like he knew how to attack a stocky midget like ruiz. His trainers ganeplan was to walk ruiz into a right hand. What they should have been working on is working behind a stiff jab to keep ruiz at bay and staying behind his shoulder with his right hand glued to his face. Those lower center of gravity guys have to be fought differently. Joshua was ducking his head too much and falling into ruiz's range way too much.

[Mr.365]

Joshua is a one dimensional fighter

[CauliflowerEars]

Funny this. I told everyone here almost three years ago why Joshua lost last night.

Times when Joshua was effective in every fight he's had, he's been at max range. It's almost like he can't measure different ranges for different shot power. He's always looking for the specific range that benefits him. Like he never learned how to generate power at different ranges. Meanwhile, he's never done a great job protecting the body.
Ruiz just bullied in and went to work.

My opinion: whatever shot Ruiz first landed solid knocked equilibrium out of whack and it was target practice from there.

Hey I'm curious to hear more of your take on where Joshua goes from here. I think I saw that you believe he will simply, never fight out of the UK again and arrange for favorable referees, for the remainder of his career ?
On a more interesting note, you commented that you could tell from Joshua's "First Take" interview that he "was not hungry....over confident, complacent" or something to that effect. I believe you said "his body language, voice tone, demeanor, and language" all told you that he was about to go down hard and you may have even said "starched within 5 rounds".

So do you think a loss like this will do anything to reignite any "hunger" in AJ ? Apart from the various boxing flaws he should address, do you think his general attitude will change ? Do you see him becoming "inspired" at all or, play some sort of "hiding game" where he stays in the UK and allows a more "manufactured" approach to his career ?

Just curious, cuz I found it a little interesting how you called the fight based on that interview (although you may have been calling it against Wilder, not sure). Peace.

[Combat Talk Radio]

Hey I'm curious to hear more of your take on where Joshua goes from here. I think I saw that you believe he will simply, never fight out of the UK again and arrange for favorable referees, for the remainder of his career ?

I believe that's exactly what will be attempted, unless he's going up against someone like Wilder. I certainly don't see him going back to the US unless he can be absolutely dominant in the rematch with Ruiz. As in, completely outclasses him or gets him out of there inside of 6 rounds max. It has to leave zero doubt. THEN he has to win the rubber match with Ruiz just as if not more dominant.

On a more interesting note, you commented that you could tell from Joshua's "First Take" interview that he "was not hungry....over confident, complacent" or something to that effect. I believe you said "his body language, voice tone, demeanor, and language" all told you that he was about to go down hard and you may have even said "starched within 5 rounds".

I said all of the above, and felt that (this is December, mind you) Wilder would KO smoove out cold. That was less about Wilder and more about Joshua, yes. And I believe his performance against Ruiz was just a realization of his body language. He didn't look hungry, he didn't look like a proud, defending champion. He came off like a guy trying to convince himself that he's "got to be" the best.

Some idiot on here then proceeded to criticize my statement saying that Joshua is just quiet and humble, unlike Wilder. Meanwhile, Joshua would months later prove my point. If that were Wilder across from him, Anthony Joshua would have been stretchered out and sent to the local hospital after 3 rounds max, and we ALL know it to be true.

So do you think a loss like this will do anything to reignite any "hunger" in AJ ? Apart from the various boxing flaws he should address, do you think his general attitude will change ? Do you see him becoming "inspired" at all or, play some sort of "hiding game" where he stays in the UK and allows a more "manufactured" approach to his career ?

Just curious, cuz I found it a little interesting how you called the fight based on that interview (although you may have been calling it against Wilder, not sure). Peace.

I'll say this much.

He, a guy who previously only ever had been down once against one of the greatest heavyweights of the modern era, got dropped FOUR times.

He, a guy who bragged about drawing 90k to arenas in the UK with ease, got dropped four times in his debut in the USA in front of millions worldwide and his fans watching.

He, a guy whose whole promotional aura is based on having a Greek god body and being in "perfect" physical shape, got dropped four times by an obese opponent who openly admits gorging on Snickers bars as a diet.

He, a guy who was fresh off saying he would have struggled with a PED-fueled fat Miler, struggled with and got dropped by a clean fat Ruiz.

He, a guy who previously was undefeated, lost his '0' on foreign soil to a late replacement with 6 weeks training notice.

He, a guy who once bragged that he would sleep Wilder easily, got STOPPED by said obese late replacement on foreign soil.


Call me crazy, but that's a LOT of embarrassing facts. He won't be the same. He'll come back, but he won't be the same fighter.

If he comes back aggressive he'll get stopped again or knocked clean out, because we see he can't handle temple punches or body shots, nor does he have good stamina.

If he comes back tentative and cautious the fans will turn on him anyway.

Either way, he won't get back up the mountain. Nowhere near it. My opinion.