Quote Originally Posted by El Kabong View Post
Quote Originally Posted by TitoFan View Post
Quote Originally Posted by El Kabong View Post
Quote Originally Posted by TitoFan View Post
Agreed. Part II should be a hell of a fight.
Either that or exactly what YOU don't want to see (which would extend AJ's career a lot longer)


This fight should be called 'Catch 22' precisely because of that...it's either going to be another brawl that AJ loses and the fans will love the action or a cagey veteran display from the bigger guy where the crowd goes home disappointed but AJ redeems himself with a win.

Good point @El Kabong

But...... I don't think it's quite "either/or". It was "either/or" with Wlad MANY times which is why I disliked his fights so much (Sultan, Povetkin, Haye, Fury.... should I continue?). I think there's a good middle ground where you fight smart and use your defensive boxing skills, but STILL provide enough offense (sans the excessive grappling and fouling) to make it interesting and entertaining.

I would not be disappointed....... I repeat..... not disappointed..... with a fight where Joshua changes his tactics, defends himself against Ruiz's buzzsaw style, and at the same time uses effective aggression to pull out a win. It doesn't even have to be a knockout, but given the nature of these two guys, a knockout is the most likely outcome either way.

I resist the notion that it has to be either an all-out brawl defense-be-damned....... or a boring chess match where you can go get a beer between actual punches.
Well the Sanders and Brewster losses sapped Wlad's confidence and the Sam Peter bout really turned things around for him. His style early in his career was that of a gunslinger and it would have been very interesting had he kept that style and not had the pitfalls of Sanders & Brewster but he wouldn't have been the dominant champion he was without those IMO.


AJ's confidence is an unknown right now, if he changes tactics and wins that change in style might become his security blanket...we'll have to wait and see. But if AJ gets rocked again by Ruiz and he doesn't know how to tie up or avoid further damage then he's peaked as a fighter and will never hold any title of meaning ever again.



AJ is extremely lucky not to have fought Wilder IMO....Wilder has that Tommy Hearns kind of power. He doesn't have The Hitman's accuracy or sharpness all the time, but he does a great deal of damage when he lands. Imagine if he took the opportunity to attack Tyson Fury to the body every so often....a couple hooks to the body would stiffen him right up.


No doubt Wlad wouldn't have lasted as long had he not gone "defense first, second, and third." I think his reign was a combination of his 180 degree switch to a totally defensive posture, while at the same time having the good fortune to face opposition that..... not saying they were all bad..... simply that some of them went into the ring like a lamb being led to slaughter. Huge Ray Austin comes to mind. What a total lack of a fighting mentality.

With AJ I agree 100%. He needs some fundamental changes, and no one knows whether he's capable of it, probably not even those closest to him. The first time he gets chinned by Ruiz will say a LOT, as you say. It's how AJ reacts that will make or break the fight and subsequently have a huge impact on his future career.

Agree on Wilder also. People love to slam Deontay for everything from saying things while his brain is on "pause"...... to having less of the classic boxing skills we all expect to see from professional boxers. But "Tommy Hearns power" is right. Like Tommy, Wilder is a comparative beanpole of a HW, but his one-punch power is undeniable. Even before the AJ-Ruiz fight I thought an AJ-Wilder fight was far from a foregone conclusion. Now even more so. Some claim Joshua only has problems with short, Butterbean-type fighters like Ruiz. Well..... before that fight they would've claimed Ruiz was no threat to Joshua.

Ruiz's win was good for the division, IMO. It breaks it wide open. Some have flocked to Fury as "the last man standing". Not quite true just yet. Only rematch vs. Wilder will satisfy hardcore fans...... and his win over Schwartz can be summarily tossed in the garbage heap of meaningless fights.