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I didn't get to see the fight live as I had been up to 6-7 am watching Liverpool win the champions league! Caught the Coyle vs Algieri scrap and the Buatsi fight, as well as that 1 round middleweight fight before falling asleep... thinking AJ probably had a relatively easy night infront of him anyway.
Obviously I was as shocked as you all were when I woke up and saw he'd been knocked out, and not just knocked out but beaten up.
Well now i've finally watched the whole fight, from before the ring-walk until seeing AJs dad wanting to fight Eddie Hearn. lol.
First of all
AJ didn't look right to me in the dressing room.
This is not an excuse as much as it is a criticism of him. He looked half nervous half head somewhere else. In hindsight it's easy to say of course but he didn't look his usual self. He's usually so relaxed, smiling etc and honestly, he looked nervous to me.
In the dressing room, during the ring walk and when he came into the ring. Just looked like he was not focused, and perhaps that he had carried something into the fight.
Now, I don't think it was an injury, but more like he'd been hurt in sparring leading up to the fight. He had marks all over his face in the final week which screams of someone desperate to get the last bit of sparring in. That's always bad.
The fight itself
He looked OK in the first few rounds, until he dropped Ruiz. But I don't get why he immediately stepped back instead of taking center of the ring against the smaller fighter. Again, tells me he was lacking confidence.
He got desperate and went for the KO of a guy who was not ready to get knocked out and got himself beaten.
And beaten badly.
This is not lewis vs mccall
AJ was properly beaten. He took a beating imo. Mentally and physically, and I think it's entirely fair of everyone to consider whether he's in fact a hypejob.
Of course we will know more about this in the rematch, but for the moment it's entirely plausible. It'll be interesting to see what AJ does from here on out.
He was not only beaten by the better man on the night, but just quite probably the better man.
Did he quit?
Yes I think he did. I don't know if he was concussed or whatever, but to me he didn't look like it. He just looked like a guy who had enough.
I've never been one to criticize 'quitters' so to speak. I'm not the guy in the ring, so I can't pass judgement. But he certainly seemed to quit. That's my honest assessment.
Andy Ruiz
Could this have happened to a better guy?
Honestly, this guy is such a nice guy and strikes me as someone who this would never happen to, know what I mean?
I'd rather have wanted Wilder to be the man who did this for obvious reasons, but a close second is Andy Ruiz.
A few of us on the forum did note he was a proper fighter before the fight, now everyone seems to be geniuses "knowing this would happen". That's ridiculous.
He wasn't lucky, he was better.
Knocked him down, knocked him out.
Champ.
Obviously I was as shocked as you all were when I woke up and saw he'd been knocked out, and not just knocked out but beaten up.
Well now i've finally watched the whole fight, from before the ring-walk until seeing AJs dad wanting to fight Eddie Hearn. lol.
First of all
AJ didn't look right to me in the dressing room.
This is not an excuse as much as it is a criticism of him. He looked half nervous half head somewhere else. In hindsight it's easy to say of course but he didn't look his usual self. He's usually so relaxed, smiling etc and honestly, he looked nervous to me.
In the dressing room, during the ring walk and when he came into the ring. Just looked like he was not focused, and perhaps that he had carried something into the fight.
Now, I don't think it was an injury, but more like he'd been hurt in sparring leading up to the fight. He had marks all over his face in the final week which screams of someone desperate to get the last bit of sparring in. That's always bad.
The fight itself
He looked OK in the first few rounds, until he dropped Ruiz. But I don't get why he immediately stepped back instead of taking center of the ring against the smaller fighter. Again, tells me he was lacking confidence.
He got desperate and went for the KO of a guy who was not ready to get knocked out and got himself beaten.
And beaten badly.
This is not lewis vs mccall
AJ was properly beaten. He took a beating imo. Mentally and physically, and I think it's entirely fair of everyone to consider whether he's in fact a hypejob.
Of course we will know more about this in the rematch, but for the moment it's entirely plausible. It'll be interesting to see what AJ does from here on out.
He was not only beaten by the better man on the night, but just quite probably the better man.
Did he quit?
Yes I think he did. I don't know if he was concussed or whatever, but to me he didn't look like it. He just looked like a guy who had enough.
I've never been one to criticize 'quitters' so to speak. I'm not the guy in the ring, so I can't pass judgement. But he certainly seemed to quit. That's my honest assessment.
Andy Ruiz
Could this have happened to a better guy?
Honestly, this guy is such a nice guy and strikes me as someone who this would never happen to, know what I mean?
I'd rather have wanted Wilder to be the man who did this for obvious reasons, but a close second is Andy Ruiz.
A few of us on the forum did note he was a proper fighter before the fight, now everyone seems to be geniuses "knowing this would happen". That's ridiculous.
He wasn't lucky, he was better.
Knocked him down, knocked him out.
Champ.
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