Quote Originally Posted by Mark TKO View Post
Quote Originally Posted by Spicoli View Post
I've been turning devils advocate on this one. Just a bit. Now I get that Ruiz laid a big egg in the rematch but at the very beginning it struck me odd that he was being slammed for coming in 'so much more out of shape' than first time around. When that's exactly what many fans said when his shirt came off the first time . Hey maybe it's an appearance thing and the fact he resembles a guy wearing a huge misshapen sweat suit that is 4 times to big. Dude has fat flaps. But it's not like he went in and fell down on the first jab or pulled quit jobs prior. For a guy who 'did absolutely nothing' then what does that say about AJ who played freeze tag all night and couldn't even duplicate dropping ol Andy on his big ol derrière. Time will tell and his next out is his most important but so goes the sport that guys get written off quick. He'll have to earn it back and earn respect of fans back but fact remains he pulled one of the biggest upsets in modern history. I just can't get around the weight hub dub. We were fully prepared to welcome in Big Baby as a legit opponent who turned out to be a drug cheat and oddly enough blew up 20 lbs more than once. He was also career high 317 on the doorstep of Joshua having just slopping on 30 lbs over two fights. I dunno guess we'll see if the fire still burns for something other than grilling pork ribs next time he steps in.
I totally get where you're coming from here. OK he was heavier - guess its easy for a guy that size to have weight massively fluctuate - but AJ fought a different fight and safety first at distance. Ruiz didn't tire at all and maybe it's just because AJ in the first fight went in for the kill, got closer and got tagged. If Ruiz had weighed in exactly the same on the skills we wouldn't have said a thing and been crying out for the rubber match
Yeh full credit to Joshua for sure. Stylistically it didn't keep us on the edge of our seats but rematch was a tale of two guys experiencing drastically different results and of the two AJ adapted and overcame. Shed some bulk and proved consistent ring operator. Kept his poise too and no rushes into disaster. Andy did himself no favors running on about a third fight having just had 36 minutes to prove no need for one rather than keeping his hands in his pockets waiting for Joshua to stand still in front. His career or what's left of it will now depend on a sense of urgency.