• Dear Guest, Please note that adult content is not permitted on this forum. We have had our Google ads disabled at times due to some posts that were found from some time ago. Please do not post adult content and if you see any already on the forum, please report the post so that we can deal with it. Adult content is allowed in the glory hole - you will have to request permission to access it. Thanks, scara

*** The Official Boxing/UFC/MMA thread ***

The size difference between Joshua and Ruiz is quite shocking. Somehow I didn't expect it to be quite that extreme. Any lingering thoughts I might have had about this not being a total farce just ended.

Of course shorter does not necessarily mean no chance - Tyson/Holyfield etc - but in this case probably does
Interesting that Joshua has come in substantially lighter. Ruiz does have relatively quick hands and presumably was thinking he could afford/needed to carry a bit of extra weight. I'd have suggested coming in much lighter and trying to run away for 12 rounds and win on points.

Looks like AJ is frozen out after this fight, now that Wilder-Fury 2 is done. Who is left to fight in the US? Ortiz after he has been beaten twice by Wilder. Usyk - interesting but not much of a draw for US audience. Whyte - the same. Pulev....come on Eddie...really. So much for breaking the US.
 
Of course shorter does not necessarily mean no chance - Tyson/Holyfield etc - but in this case probably does

No of course, and actually the difference looked far less pronounced at the weigh in for some reason, but that previous face-off they did (the day before?) really did look quite farcical to me.

Looks like AJ is frozen out after this fight, now that Wilder-Fury 2 is done. Who is left to fight in the US? Ortiz after he has been beaten twice by Wilder. Usyk - interesting but not much of a draw for US audience. Whyte - the same. Pulev....come on Eddie...really. So much for breaking the US.

Serves Hearn & AJ right in my opinion. I'm personally hoping they'll be bounced into fighting Whyte, which they clearly didn't want to do before now but would actually be a massive fight, over here at least. Will be interesting to hear Hearn's attempts at avoiding it, with both Wilder and Fury off the menu...
 
I will take it all back, I totally underestimated Ruiz, all the fight does it go to serve further to how over hyped AJ is
 
What was everyone's thought on Katie Taylor? She didn't look like the winner to me, but unified all the belts.
 
They will do the re-match in the UK, just reading. I think Joshua should go to the states again for it.

Don't be silly - everything will have to be stacked in the golden goose's favour, don't you know. I'll be surprised if Hearn ever lets him out of the UK again after this (while there's still some hype left to be squeezed out, that is).
 
Thing is, I'm not so sure Ruiz will even be bothered by Wembley or wherever they do it, he really beat Joshua up. Wasn't like 1 lucky punch, he put him down again and again. I think he'll fancy the job even more with more time to prepare.

This is a key point, and something that I felt Johnny Nelson completely overlooked when he tried to compare this to Lennox Lewis's defeats. I still sensed plenty of Joshua's entitled arrogance in his post fight interviews though - will be interesting to see whether that continues as the true nature of the defeat sinks in.

Saying all that, Ruiz won't have the element of surprise or being overlooked in his favour next time. That, combined with the home advantages will give Joshua a decent shout at avenging this IMO.
 
What a great fight - unexpected perhaps but the signs were there with the Klitschko fight. Joshua's reactions after getting caught remind me so much of Bruno. It's not that he can't take a shot, it's more that he doesn't react instinctively like a boxer, once he has. He freezes and is completely open for a moment. Plus he gasses easily and can barely lift his arms to defend himself when he is tired. There is no way you can coach that out. I'm sure Hearn had his suspicions. On the strength of last night Wilder would destroy him.

I had a bet on Ruiz at 22-1 for the KO, more in hope than expectation, because they were crazy odds against a decent puncher.

Comparisons with Lewis's comeback are misplaced too. This was no flash knock down, Ruiz dismantled AJ over 7 rounds, took a lot of heavy shots relatively untroubled, recovered from a knockdown much more quickly than AJ. Joshua never really recovered from the third round knockdowns. He looked stunned everytime Ruiz caught him with a good shot after that. Lennox is one of the best (albeit sensibly cautious) heavyweights of all time - with a list of decent fighters on his record. AJ is a carefully managed, decent, but limited heavyweight.


What happens next seems very unpredictable.

Is there a rematch clause and if there is will Ruiz honour it?
Will the various sanctioning bodies force mandatories?
Given the relationship between Ruiz's advisor Al Haymon and Shelley Finkel is there a chance that wilder might get a shot at Ruiz before Joshua?

Given the money at stake I wouldn't put it past someone engineering a fight for a vacated title.

Personally I hope that if there is a rematch AJ doesn't win (or manage to get hold of the belts via another route) as there is no way Hearn lets AJ anywhere near a decent puncher again.
 
Last edited:
What a great fight - unexpected perhaps but the signs were there with the Klitschko fight. Joshua's reactions after getting caught remind me so much of Bruno. It's not that he can't take a shot, it's more that he doesn't react instinctively like a boxer, once he has. He freezes and is completely open for a moment. Plus he gasses easily and can barely lift his arms to defend himself when he is tired. There is no way you can coach that out. I'm sure Hearn had his suspicions. On the strength of last night Wilder would destroy him.

I had a bet on Ruiz at 22-1 for the KO, more in hope than expectation, because they were crazy odds against a decent puncher.

Comparisons with Lewis's comeback are misplaced too. This was no flash knock down, Ruiz dismantled AJ over 7 rounds, took a lot of heavy shots relatively untroubled, recovered from a knockdown much more quickly than AJ. Joshua never really recovered from the third round knockdowns. He looked stunned everytime Ruiz caught him with a good shot after that. Lennox is one of the best (albeit sensibly cautious) heavyweights of all time - with a list of decent fighters on his record. AJ is a carefully managed, decent, but limited heavyweight.


What happens next seems very unpredictable.

Is there a rematch clause and if there is will Ruiz honour it?
Will the various sanctioning bodies force mandatories?
Given the relationship between Ruiz's advisor Al Haymon and Shelley Finkel is there a chance that wilder might get a shot at Ruiz before Joshua?

Given the money at stake I wouldn't put it past someone engineering a fight for a vacated title.

Personally I hope that if there is a rematch AJ doesn't win (or manage to get hold of the belts via another route) as there is no way Hearn let's AJ anywhere near a decent puncher again.
Problem is many are decent punchers.

Maybe if Fury and AJ could get it on (if they can get to the point they think each other are worthy) that may work for AJ.

The way it descended for AJ in the last couple of rounds is a worry. He mentally looked weak. We may have a bit of a quitter on our hands, when we all assumed he was the opposite.
 
I watched it again and it was a strange feeling to the fight, maybe seeing stuff that was not there but AJ looked scared and lost to me from the go, as the fight went on he looked worse, he unravelled badly and had no plan B.

As for physically, he blew early and probably less active I have seen him in ages which is a worry and he seemed to sweat bad early...
 
What was everyone's thought on Katie Taylor? She didn't look like the winner to me, but unified all the belts.

I think if she was male she would be getting much more exposure for her achievements.


Sitting on my porcelain throne using Fapatalk
 
What a great fight - unexpected perhaps but the signs were there with the Klitschko fight. Joshua's reactions after getting caught remind me so much of Bruno. It's not that he can't take a shot, it's more that he doesn't react instinctively like a boxer, once he has. He freezes and is completely open for a moment. Plus he gasses easily and can barely lift his arms to defend himself when he is tired. There is no way you can coach that out. I'm sure Hearn had his suspicions. On the strength of last night Wilder would destroy him.

I had a bet on Ruiz at 22-1 for the KO, more in hope than expectation, because they were crazy odds against a decent puncher.

Comparisons with Lewis's comeback are misplaced too. This was no flash knock down, Ruiz dismantled AJ over 7 rounds, took a lot of heavy shots relatively untroubled, recovered from a knockdown much more quickly than AJ. Joshua never really recovered from the third round knockdowns. He looked stunned everytime Ruiz caught him with a good shot after that. Lennox is one of the best (albeit sensibly cautious) heavyweights of all time - with a list of decent fighters on his record. AJ is a carefully managed, decent, but limited heavyweight.


What happens next seems very unpredictable.

Is there a rematch clause and if there is will Ruiz honour it?
Will the various sanctioning bodies force mandatories?
Given the relationship between Ruiz's advisor Al Haymon and Shelley Finkel is there a chance that wilder might get a shot at Ruiz before Joshua?

Given the money at stake I wouldn't put it past someone engineering a fight for a vacated title.

Personally I hope that if there is a rematch AJ doesn't win (or manage to get hold of the belts via another route) as there is no way Hearn lets AJ anywhere near a decent puncher again.


I read that there's a re-match clause but I don't know if that means the belts are automatically included in it as well, guess it depends on the body. Rumours that the IBF may enforce a mandatory so he might have to relinquish it for the re-match.

Never seen Ruiz fight but he's got some fast hands, not what you expect when you look at him. Many people had suspected that Joshua wasn't improving with a few laboured wins recently and questions about his stamina. Have to see how he handles the re-match to fully judge him.
 
I watched it again and it was a strange feeling to the fight, maybe seeing stuff that was not there but AJ looked scared and lost to me from the go, as the fight went on he looked worse, he unravelled badly and had no plan B.

As for physically, he blew early and probably less active I have seen him in ages which is a worry and he seemed to sweat bad early...
Buncey was saying he's had a bad cold for 10 days?
 
Back