Ruiz is a great boxer and I don't see how AJ is going to beat him.

[Century Tuna]

AJ is good at mid range distance, but not long distance. Ruiz was his worst nightmare at mid-range. Hands are too fast, he hits too hard, got a solid chin, but most of all... His counter punching is unbelievable. The left hook will strike Joshua again.

[Redd Foxx]

IDK. McCracken we telling him to keep range and movement and AJ didn't do it. If he follows his coach next time he can make this a nightmare for Ruiz. If AJ wants to create space and circle, what's Ruiz going to do?

I think, for Ruiz to win, AJ has to fuk up again.

[Century Tuna]

IDK. McCracken we telling him to keep range and movement and AJ didn't do it. If he follows his coach next time he can make this a nightmare for Ruiz. If AJ wants to create space and circle, what's Ruiz going to do?

I think, for Ruiz to win, AJ has to fuk up again.

What I saw:
A few times AJ landed a good hit and tried to follow it up
But was caught off guard when Ruiz didn’t quite back down and just went forward throwing punches.

AJ can punch that much is true!
AR can take a hit and keep on ticking

At least that is how I saw it! And thought that AJ never really recovered after he went down the first time.

[billeau2]

I would have to agree to a large extent with the OP here...Red knows I think the world of him regardless. What AJ had to do was step back and not get pushed off his base when he is punching...sounds pretty simple and all...

But AJ does not have the footwork yet, it just has not developed to a point where he can time Ruiz as he steps back and uses his reach. AJ is very talented but has not had the experience of fighting a good pressure guy who has enough experience to play with range, and the confidence to hit at anything to get AJ moving back.

What it appears we are left with is a belief that AJ just has to do a few things to get on track. Aj took a beating so psychologically he has to get his confidance back, remember Ronda Roussey? Confidance can kill ya!

Aj also has to realize what Ruiz is doing and I am not so sure he does realize yet what the problem is. Ruiz constantly pressures and is moving even when connecting. his fast hands make it hard to counter him as well. If AJ had done like Chisora for example, and fought em all, lose win or draw, he would naturally learn how to encounter a pressure fighter cutting the ring off. With no such experience and... a corner that may/may not realize what Ruiz is doing to AJ (keeping him unbalanced) its crap shoot.

Aj can punch well and has good combo punching. He needs to study now to keep Ruiz at the tip of his extended arms. i don't see it happening though. The next fight will prolly look like Roussey Nunes.

[sunny31]

He's got to fight with the mentality Barrera had against Hamed, when you hurt the guy don't follow in and go for the kill.

I think Josh has earned enough respect with his power that Ruiz knows he can't just walk through him so Joshua needs to use the jab and run his punches up the middle, the knock out will come but you've got to soften a guy like Ruiz up first.

The big complication for Joshua is that:

A: He has to compartmentalize the loss mentally
B. He still has to sit down on his shots a little
C. Ruiz knows he can hurt him, at points in the fight he will go for the kill, especially if he's desperate, can Josh handle the heat?

I'll be impressed if Joshua can pull it off, but I'll be equally impressed if Ruiz repeats, it could be a classic fight. This is not a Rahman situation, Ruiz can fight and they aren't miles apart in ability.

[Bobby Deez]

IDK. McCracken we telling him to keep range and movement and AJ didn't do it. If he follows his coach next time he can make this a nightmare for Ruiz. If AJ wants to create space and circle, what's Ruiz going to do?

I think, for Ruiz to win, AJ has to fuk up again.

I don't think AJ liked the pressure Ruiz was putting on him and he wanted to try something different. I think they were worried about the speed of Andy.

[hugh grant]

Josh can win. He can even start favourite again but not silly odds. Certainly a picke m fight now

[LacedUp]

I just watched AJ vs Povetkin, and he seemed to be a lot more focused in that fight. Even in the first few rounds, and he needs to be focused.

If he is, he can win, and could win easily. If not, obviously we've seen what happened.

[MDPopescu]

Ruiz is a great boxer and I don't see how AJ is going to beat him.

AJ is good at mid range distance, but not long distance. Ruiz was his worst nightmare at mid-range. Hands are too fast, he hits too hard, got a solid chin, but most of all... His counter punching is unbelievable. The left hook will strike Joshua again.

... it's more "complicated"... most of AJ's straight rights are coming from "distance"... while his his hooks (mostly left) are coming from mid-range, of course... AJ's main problem is that he doesn't hold o proper defense and inside game...

[MDPopescu]

I would have to agree to a large extent with the OP here...Red knows I think the world of him regardless. What AJ had to do was step back and not get pushed off his base when he is punching...sounds pretty simple and all...

But AJ does not have the footwork yet, it just has not developed to a point where he can time Ruiz as he steps back and uses his reach. AJ is very talented but has not had the experience of fighting a good pressure guy who has enough experience to play with range, and the confidence to hit at anything to get AJ moving back.

What it appears we are left with is a belief that AJ just has to do a few things to get on track. Aj took a beating so psychologically he has to get his confidance back, remember Ronda Roussey? Confidance can kill ya!

Aj also has to realize what Ruiz is doing and I am not so sure he does realize yet what the problem is. Ruiz constantly pressures and is moving even when connecting. his fast hands make it hard to counter him as well. If AJ had done like Chisora for example, and fought em all, lose win or draw, he would naturally learn how to encounter a pressure fighter cutting the ring off. With no such experience and... a corner that may/may not realize what Ruiz is doing to AJ (keeping him unbalanced) its crap shoot.

Aj can punch well and has good combo punching. He needs to study now to keep Ruiz at the tip of his extended arms. i don't see it happening though. The next fight will prolly look like Roussey Nunes.

... forget the OP...

... please try and watch AJ's head movement and upper body movement... and his "inside game skills" under pressure...