Finally watched AJ vs Ruiz - Here are my thoughts

[LacedUp]

Do you think that AJ would have still beaten Wilder on the night?

As in if the same AJ showed up against Wilder?

No I don't.

[hugh grant]

I don't feel Josh can be described as a hypejob as that is a disservice to andy ruiz. Just cos Andy was underrated don't mean he wasnt really good.
That's why fighters so scared to lose in fear of being called hyoejobs. Pac got koed by jmm then was considered overrated by some critics even though Pac has had a amazing career by then. But Pac showed how wrong his few critics were by having an amazing career after setback also
I'm sure Josh will comeback

[The Big Dunn]

Ortiz doesn't have the same speed as Ruiz but I don't think he necessarily would be easier than Ruiz.

In retrospect, they should have probably cancelled the event or choose someone like Trevor Bryant that AJ could look good againstt.

We've seen that AJ doesn't perform well against smaller fighters.

Canceling might have been the right call but it's hard to do that when you've sold 10k seats to Brits coming over and you are getting a huge payday and exposure.

I think Ortiz would've been easier to prepare for on short notice.

Yes, this is why I didn't like him against Usyk if Usyk could withstand his power.

[Phenom]

Good post.

I also think you should consider how he behaved during the lead up to the fight. He seemed to be more focused on his branding opportunities and talking about Wilder than the opponent in front of him. Hearn also did AJ no favors by not securing an opponent whose skill set was so diverse.

In retrospect maybe you just pay Ortiz the extra money because he would've been far easier for AJ than Ruiz.

Eddie Hearn ****ed up picking Ruiz he was in a lose lose situation he had to beat a guy that looks like Ruiz struggling against him is not a good look, getting knocked the **** out by him is a disaster that the AJ brand will never recover from

[El_Mero]

great summary, Lacedup...

i think all the fat paychecks and the hype leading up to the superfight might have been in his head...along with the pressure of his US debut

but big props to Ruiz...i knew he would be troublesome with his handspeed, but i didnt think he was gonna stop AJ


now i'm hoping for a King Kong upset to complete the HW chaos

That would be the icing on the cake!

[LacedUp]

I don't feel Josh can be described as a hypejob as that is a disservice to andy ruiz. Just cos Andy was underrated don't mean he wasnt really good.
That's why fighters so scared to lose in fear of being called hyoejobs. Pac got koed by jmm then was considered overrated by some critics even though Pac has had a amazing career by then. But Pac showed how wrong his few critics were by having an amazing career after setback also
I'm sure Josh will comeback

In terms of being the face of the heavyweight division, I think it's entirely fair to consider whether he is wha we thought he was.

[Boxing Goat]

As in if the same AJ showed up against Wilder?

No I don't.

Yes and I agree. I think if Wilder landed those same shots, (not that he would have) AJ would have been out cold. Cheers

[PRINCEKOOL]

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.

There is a situation with highly trained athletes where, training actually suppresses their immune system 'During his last fight camp for Povetkin, he was suffering from he flu' Why is a athlete who has the best nutrition available getting the flu during training camp? Apparently Eddie Hearn had stated that Joshua had changed his training strategies for this fight 'And I think maybe this explains Joshua's performance to a certain extent'

Anthony Joshua looked as if he was fighting under water, his stamina has always been abit underpar, but only because he operates in a very high intensity window 'But against Ruiz Junior, it was the worst I have ever seen it'.

I am taking nothing away for Ruiz Junior, because he beat up Joshua comprehensively, took his power and fired back 'These kind of defeats are worst than quick knock outs, or Stoppage's'

Lennox Lewis knew why he was beaten by McCall and Rahman, and I always remember the conviction in which he reacted to his defeat to Hasim Rahman.

'My belts are on loan'. Lennox Lewis.

I want to see the rematch back in American, there is no point in going back to the Britain 'Hearn & Joshua wanted to crack america so I don't want their asses to drop'.

[Boxing Goat]

I don't feel Josh can be described as a hypejob as that is a disservice to andy ruiz. Just cos Andy was underrated don't mean he wasnt really good.
That's why fighters so scared to lose in fear of being called hyoejobs. Pac got koed by jmm then was considered overrated by some critics even though Pac has had a amazing career by then. But Pac showed how wrong his few critics were by having an amazing career after setback also
I'm sure Josh will comeback

AJ is definitely not a hypejob. Too many quality wins to say that. Lewis and Wladimir both bounced back and so can AJ. That said, Ruiz is the 3rd best HW right now until proven otherwise.

[Boxing Goat]

Eddie Hearn ****ed up picking Ruiz he was in a lose lose situation he had to beat a guy that looks like Ruiz struggling against him is not a good look, getting knocked the **** out by him is a disaster that the AJ brand will never recover from

Props to Hearn for putting AJ in with the next best available opponent. That's what boxing should be about. Always.

That said, it backfired badly. AJ wasn't even convinced that Ruiz could beat him until the ref waived his arms. This reminds me of when Tommy Morrison took Michael Bent too lightly and got starched.