Boxing thread?

[Thewobbler]

AJ has to fight usyk next which I think is a massive joke.

 

[dontcallme]

Anyone who watched this expecting a fight and a war were foolish. Ruiz has never been finished and has good hands and power. The way AJ fought was the only way he could win that boxing match. Keeping ruiz at arms length, jabbing and moving his feet. There is a reason he stopped hitting the weights and slimmed down so he can move more freely.

Ruiz let the fame and money get to him, he put on way to much weight.

Agree with the first paragraph. Not convinced Ruiz put on weight due to money and fame, possible but I believe he is comfortable at a large weight.

 

[dontcallme]

AJ has to fight usyk next which I think is a massive joke.

Is it mandatory?

Was hoping for Usyk to fight a decent fighter next but not one of the top 5.

 

[Gb160]

Is it mandatory?

Yep.
People criticising AJ and the fight in general are not looking at it with any context.
It could've been career ending for AJ if he lost that and he knew it...winning, in any way possible, was his only objective.

 

[soup]

Reminded me of the second Leonard v Duran fight. Good win for AJ. Boxing masterclass.

 

[mrlilywhite]

If you take the top three heavyweights right now, then barring AJ from the first fight, none of them fight Ruiz up close. Wilder doesn't do it and neither does Fury. You never fight close quarters with someone like Ruiz, who only knows that way. Ruiz coming in that heavy only took away from himself - speed makes power and at the right weight, Ruiz has speed in abundance with his hands. A lighter Ruiz, who can be quicker on his feet to close the distance is a scary prospect. Fortunately for AJ and the others, Ruiz will never be the "perfect" weight, as all throughout his career he has been fat - it's his lifestyle that he just can not change and there is a lot of truth that Ruiz just doesn't do longer camps well.

 

[Spurus]

They have to keep doing big boxing fights around those times (9pm)

So much better than staying/waking up to 4am in the morning.

 

[WalkerboyUK]

AJ has revealed that he had major health issues going into the first fight, which resulted in surgery before going into training camp for yesterday’s rematch.
No detail what it was, but was suffering from unexplained fatigue.

 

[SugarRay]

Wilder isnt a world class boxer but his right hand is world class. Doesnt matter how well you box against him, if he hits you flush, its curtains. Unless you're tyson fury.

He didn’t hit Fury flush. If he did, Tyson would still be on the canvas.

Also, the fact he can time people coming on to that right hand makes him a world class boxer by the way.

 

[SugarRay]

If you take the top three heavyweights right now, then barring AJ from the first fight, none of them fight Ruiz up close. Wilder doesn't do it and neither does Fury. You never fight close quarters with someone like Ruiz, who only knows that way. Ruiz coming in that heavy only took away from himself - speed makes power and at the right weight, Ruiz has speed in abundance with his hands. A lighter Ruiz, who can be quicker on his feet to close the distance is a scary prospect. Fortunately for AJ and the others, Ruiz will never be the "perfect" weight, as all throughout his career he has been fat - it's his lifestyle that he just can not change and there is a lot of truth that Ruiz just doesn't do longer camps well.

Ruiz has never had good footwork. He needs an opponent to stand in range and let him throw combinations. All he has is very good handspeed with decent power, and of course, a very, very good chin. Being lighter won’t give Ruiz great footwork. Joshua fought a terrible fight first time round

 

[SugarRay]

Yep.
People criticising AJ and the fight in general are not looking at it with any context.
It could've been career ending for AJ if he lost that and he knew it...winning, in any way possible, was his only objective.

Joshua did what Fury does quite often, makes it boring and keeps it long. Fury gets hailed for it but apparently Joshua gets criticised?

I’ve read so much nonsense off people today about the fight. Why fight Ruiz at his range? It’s frankly moronic. Reminded me a little of Lewis v Tua, but with less quality of course. Perfect performance from AJ.

Fury, Wilder and those criticising it are basically jealous. Joshua made more last night than them two have made in their careers out together, they had hoped Ruiz had done their work for them and that they could continue to just talk about beating AJ as opposed to actually doing it.

 

[SugarRay]

Don't agree at all that it was a terrible fight. Both fighters cut in the first two rounds and AJ caught Ruiz with some great shots in the first 6 rounds. Many of those shots would have seriously hurt most heavweights and AJ could have gone for a knockout.

A large part of the reason AJ didn't win the first fight was because he went for a knockout before Ruiz was hurt. He didn't make the same mistake twice.

Amazing that people are criticising AJ for boxing but not Ruiz for not going for it in the last 4 rounds.

Ruiz couldn’t go for it to be fair, he’s not good enough when faced with an opponent fighting that sort of fight.

People criticising it are probably the same people who thought Fury v Wilder was amazing. In reality that was even more of a snore fest apart from the two knockdowns. Hardly anything landed until Wilders cuffed shot and the last knockdown.

 

[Bensonrecon]

If you take the top three heavyweights right now, then barring AJ from the first fight, none of them fight Ruiz up close. Wilder doesn't do it and neither does Fury. You never fight close quarters with someone like Ruiz, who only knows that way. Ruiz coming in that heavy only took away from himself - speed makes power and at the right weight, Ruiz has speed in abundance with his hands. A lighter Ruiz, who can be quicker on his feet to close the distance is a scary prospect. Fortunately for AJ and the others, Ruiz will never be the "perfect" weight, as all throughout his career he has been fat - it's his lifestyle that he just can not change and there is a lot of truth that Ruiz just doesn't do longer camps well.

All day this. He's like a modern day Tua and it's no shock that the fight last night was a lot like his against Lewis

 

[tototoner]

Looks like AJ next fight will be at Tottenham stadium

 

[mrlilywhite]

Ruiz has never had good footwork. He needs an opponent to stand in range and let him throw combinations. All he has is very good handspeed with decent power, and of course, a very, very good chin. Being lighter won’t give Ruiz great footwork. Joshua fought a terrible fight first time round

It won't give him great footwork, but being lighter will give him more speed on his feet to close the range better - This, however, has never been seen, as Ruiz has never been at a good enough weight to move quicker. AJ vs Ruiz 2 was an absolute shambles from his perspective - totally done the sport a disservice there with his lack of conditioning.

 

[WalkerboyUK]

Looks like AJ next fight will be at Tottenham stadium

Hearn said they were eyeing it up for the fight on Saturday, but due to date/fixtures it wasn't to be.
May/June next year would be viable and Wembley already ruled out due to pitch needing to be 100% for the Euros.

 

[SugarRay]

It won't give him great footwork, but being lighter will give him more speed on his feet to close the range better - This, however, has never been seen, as Ruiz has never been at a good enough weight to move quicker. AJ vs Ruiz 2 was an absolute shambles from his perspective - totally done the sport a disservice there with his lack of conditioning.

Footwork is what’s needed though mate, to close the angles and get shots off. You can be fast as Usain Bolt but without the footwork you’ll just chase him round the ring in straight lines. Basically Joshua would have pissed the first fight too if he had adopted this approach.
What didn’t help the first fight was the big build up about Joshua cracking the US and with Wilder sparking Breazeale just before it felt like Joshua had to make a statement. For play to Ruiz for doing the job of course but he didn’t suddenly become a stone cold killer, he’s always been a plodding, tough heavyweight with fast hands once he gets set and the opponent.
He let himself down but I think it’s a bit of excuse making too.

Just goes to show, it takes more to stay a champion than to become a champion. Something Fury has struggled with throughout his career.

 

[PhillySpurs]

Footwork is what’s needed though mate, to close the angles and get shots off. You can be fast as Usain Bolt but without the footwork you’ll just chase him round the ring in straight lines. Basically Joshua would have pissed the first fight too if he had adopted this approach.
What didn’t help the first fight was the big build up about Joshua cracking the US and with Wilder sparking Breazeale just before it felt like Joshua had to make a statement. For play to Ruiz for doing the job of course but he didn’t suddenly become a stone cold killer, he’s always been a plodding, tough heavyweight with fast hands once he gets set and the opponent.
He let himself down but I think it’s a bit of excuse making too.

Just goes to show, it takes more to stay a champion than to become a champion. Something Fury has struggled with throughout his career.

I agree. Ruiz really did himself a disservice by not trying to improve his footwork for this match. He did not have to get faster, but needed to try to cut AJ off, and close the distance. There was no way that Ruiz could win from distance. He needed the fight to be fought up close. I can not say this enough, AJ fought a masterclass fight. He was, for the most part, disciplined with his gameplan. I think that he saw that he got punished when he allowed Ruiz in close.

 

[Spurs2020]

hopfully Joshua fights usyk next and doesn't whimp out by choosing the ibf mandatory Pulev instead of him.

 

[Ronwol196061]

I agree. Ruiz really did himself a disservice by not trying to improve his footwork for this match. He did not have to get faster, but needed to try to cut AJ off, and close the distance. There was no way that Ruiz could win from distance. He needed the fight to be fought up close. I can not say this enough, AJ fought a masterclass fight. He was, for the most part, disciplined with his gameplan. I think that he saw that he got punished when he allowed Ruiz in close.

Ruiz was 16lbs heavier than the last fight and he was fill of fat then too.
It really was the worst fight.
Joshua won by not hitting this is not a fight