Serious boxing thread - why did Joshua look so bad last night?

**KingHippo** · 06-02-2019, 07:46 PM

I was surprised by the result, but I wouldn't say he was "exposed". His flaws have always been flagrant and Ruiz is no bum.

**Combat Talk Radio** · 06-02-2019, 07:49 PM

Originally posted by Boxing1013

Was Ruiz better than most people thought?

Bad matchup?

Nerves/etc from his first US fight?

Didn't take training seriously?

Weak chin finally caught up to him?

The result and fight last night was just really puzzling to me - Joshua was getting backed up from the get go by this fat smaller guy lol. It was just odd to see him unable to really do much to back Ruiz up or hurt him.

I haven't watched all of AJ's fights in total - but he was able to get the job done against Povetkin, Wlad, Takam, White, and Breazeale and KO them. Got by Parker with a UD. Not exactly a HOF resume, especially considering Povetkin and Wlad were past prime and the others not that great.

But I just felt Ruiz would be in the same category as the Whites, Breazeales, Takams, Povetkins and Parkers.

I've never really seen footage of AJ looking bad in a fight before - and he looked awful to me pretty much the entire fight. I always thought AJ could really box - why couldn't he back up this dude lol?

Really not trolling - just trying to wrap my head around what the hell happened last night.

I noticed two things. Three actually.

First Joshua has never been a good inside fighter. Ever. He never had to be. But he has no power without max range. Ruiz did a great job staying just outside which forced Joshua to over commit and get checked.

Second Joshua kept looking for the right hand for some reason. Ruiz not only kept a solid guard, he stayed just that little bit off center which again, led to over committing.

Third, when Ruiz hit him it was right on the temple. That jacked the equilibrium which affects balance and stability. From there it was target practice.

**Boxing_1013** · 06-02-2019, 07:50 PM

Originally posted by KingHippo

I was surprised by the result, but I wouldn't say he was "exposed". His flaws have always been flagrant and Ruiz is no bum.

Either Ruiz hits pretty hard or Joshua has a terrible chin imo. I've seen him wobbled before by not huge punches...and the shot Wlad hit him with was not the biggest imo.

AJ was wobbled or hurt by quite of few of Ruiz's shots last night that weren't even big I felt like.

I want to go back and watch the Ruiz Parker fight in total now - didn't realize that was his only loss. And I actually remember watching that in the background the night it was on, and I was impressed/surprised at how effective Ruiz was at walking down his more physically impressive counterpart. History repeated last night I guess.

**Boxing_1013** · 06-02-2019, 07:55 PM

Originally posted by revelated

I noticed two things. Three actually.

First Joshua has never been a good inside fighter. Ever. He never had to be. But he has no power without max range. Ruiz did a great job staying just outside which forced Joshua to over commit and get checked.

Second Joshua kept looking for the right hand for some reason. Ruiz not only kept a solid guard, he stayed just that little bit off center which again, led to over committing.

Third, when Ruiz hit him it was right on the temple. That jacked the equilibrium which affects balance and stability. From there it was target practice.

Thanks bro - good analysis. I will look out for this stuff the next time I give that fight a watch.

So I guess when Joshua tried to jab Ruiz kept good distance and was just out of range, which left him open to counters? I'll have to really look for that. Probably the case.

**KingHippo** · 06-02-2019, 07:56 PM

Originally posted by Boxing1013

I want to go back and watch the Ruiz Parker fight in total now - didn't realize that was his only loss. And I actually remember watching that in the background the night it was on, and I was impressed/surprised at how effective Ruiz was at walking down his more physically impressive counterpart. History repeated last night I guess.

I actually had Ruiz as a favorite against Parker and he always impressed me. Did pretty great in that fight too. Great speed, power and punch selection. Did not expect this however.

**Granath** · 06-02-2019, 07:56 PM

Originally posted by Boxing1013

Was Ruiz better than most people thought?

Bad matchup?

Nerves/etc from his first US fight?

Didn't take training seriously?

Weak chin finally caught up to him?

The result and fight last night was just really puzzling to me - Joshua was getting backed up from the get go by this fat smaller guy lol. It was just odd to see him unable to really do much to back Ruiz up or hurt him.

I haven't watched all of AJ's fights in total - but he was able to get the job done against Povetkin, Wlad, Takam, White, and Breazeale and KO them. Got by Parker with a UD. Not exactly a HOF resume, especially considering Povetkin and Wlad were past prime and the others not that great.

But I just felt Ruiz would be in the same category as the Whites, Breazeales, Takams, Povetkins and Parkers.

I've never really seen footage of AJ looking bad in a fight before - and he looked awful to me pretty much the entire fight. I always thought AJ could really box - why couldn't he back up this dude lol?

Really not trolling - just trying to wrap my head around what the hell happened last night.

I don't know and I don't know if we'll ever know. Here's what I saw though...

1. Joshua looked pensive the entire fight. Stiff. His hands weren't loose at all. I know Joshua tends to look a bit stiff anyway but he looked even more so last night.

2. Joshua always looks like he's in tip-top shape. He didn't look as chiseled to me as he normally does. The abs weren't as pronounced. Ruiz looks like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man so Joshua looks like an Adonis next to him but he wasn't in prime shape.

3. Joshua looked gassed. It's strange that he looked so tired. Not like "I didn't get enough sleep" but more like "I'm suffering from mercury poisoning" kind of tired.

4. Every time he hit Ruiz with a shot he stopped to look, like "oh I hit you, are you going to hit me back?" In fact, that last hook of his knocked the sweat from Ruiz' head and instead of following up he just stared at him. Ruiz threw the overhand right that started the end. Ruiz own left landed as Joshua's hit but it was more of a slapping left. If that really hurt Joshua then his chin is totally glass.

**Boxing_1013** · 06-02-2019, 08:03 PM

Originally posted by Granath

I don't know and I don't know if we'll ever know. Here's what I saw though...

1. Joshua looked pensive the entire fight. Stiff. His hands weren't loose at all. I know Joshua tends to look a bit stiff anyway but he looked even more so last night.

2. Joshua always looks like he's in tip-top shape. He didn't look as chiseled to me as he normally does. The abs weren't as pronounced. Ruiz looks like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man so Joshua looks like an Adonis next to him but he wasn't in prime shape.

3. Joshua looked gassed. It's strange that he looked so tired. Not like "I didn't get enough sleep" but more like "I'm suffering from mercury poisoning" kind of tired.

4. Every time he hit Ruiz with a shot he stopped to look, like "oh I hit you, are you going to hit me back?" In fact, that last hook of his knocked the sweat from Ruiz' head and instead of following up he just stared at him. Ruiz threw the overhand right that started the end. Ruiz own left landed as Joshua's hit but it was more of a slapping left. If that really hurt Joshua then his chin is totally glass.

Thanks man - good points. I too was pretty stunned by how listless Joshua looked last night. I thought he boxed up Wlad pretty well (before the KD) and then finished that fight impressively, showing some real heart.

The guy that showed up last night, I mean I didn't see the boxing skills, the heart, the toughness, the power, no chin. Just incredible in a way that none of that showed up imo.

**mathed** · 06-02-2019, 08:04 PM

He was drugged by his promoter to ensure a Ruiz rematch in the UK.

**2ndroundko** · 06-02-2019, 08:06 PM

joshua hasnt been the same since the klitschko fight. he looked terrible against takam and was weaking down the stretch. the parker performance was bad. both of them fought scared. and povetkin was shot to sh--.

his suspect chin and lack of stamina were exposed last night. what we learned is that mentally he's not as strong as we originally thought.

Serious boxing thread - why did Joshua look so bad last night?