Joshua v Ruiz 2

[THE THIRD MAN]

WOW! Fatso had better hit the gym...Somebody needs to take a camel count, Ruiz may have eaten a few?

[Master]

Anthony Joshua’s trainer McCracken backed over concussion comments

Anthony Joshua’s trainer Rob McCracken will not face any disciplinary action for saying he allowed his heavyweight to keep fighting while concussed, after receiving the full backing of the British Boxing Board of Control.

The brain charity Headway has been deeply critical of McCracken’s admission that he “knew” Joshua was concussed against Andy Ruiz Jr yet kept “trying to get him through a few more rounds” – and accused him of failing in his duty of care for the former WBA, IBF and WBO world champion.

Related: Amnesty says Anthony Joshua is being duped over Saudi Arabia fight

McCracken has since clarified his remarks, saying he was “not a doctor and it may be that concussed is not the right term to have used”, and strenuously denied any wrongdoing.

“In professional boxing, fighters inevitably take punches and have difficult rounds and when they come back to the corner it is your job as a coach to make a quick assessment of the situation,” he said. “There is no formal concussional protocol where the doctor steps in to assess the boxer so you have to use your experience as a coach and your knowledge of the person to make a decision on whether you think they can recover.”

And the trainer has now been fully supported by Robert Smith, general secretary of the British Boxing Board of Control, who told the Guardian he saw nothing wrong with McCracken’s original comments.

“I don’t think Robert said anything out of sync,” Smith said. “Boxing is a combat sport. People do get hit and concussions do occur. Obviously the referee and trainers are there to look after the boxers to the best of their ability, and I can understand Robert’s comments completely. He is very experienced. I have no issues with Robert at all. He is very qualified. He is one of the best in the world.”

Smith also rejected claims by Headway that McCracken had failed in his duty of care and could have seriously damaged Joshua’s health by allowing him to carry on. “I trust Robert impeccably,” he said. “If any of his boxers were in that serious trouble he would have pulled them out, I am sure.”



When asked what advice he would give to a trainer who felt his fighter had a concussion, Smith replied: “You’ve got to see what you have got when a fighter sits down. Concussion in a boxing contest must occur on a regular basis – you are getting punched so there will be concussions – and people do recover. Joshua got knocked down by Wladimir Klitschko and recovered to win. People condemn us, but we take the safety of our boxers very seriously. Our medicals are very stringent. And we have a lot of things in place as regard to any boxer for any issue. Our job is to make it as safe as we possibly can but we can’t be 100% safe.”

Smith also defended boxing from criticism that it lacked the formal concussion protocols that are now commonplace in other collision sports. “In this country, if a doctor has any concerns as regards to the physical condition of a boxer he has the right to go up to the ring and tell the referee stop the fight,” he said.

https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/rob...171408537.html

[X]

I hope Ruiz beats Joshua again in the rematch.

It feels great to be able to truthfully state on your dating profile that you have the physique of a world heavyweight boxing champion.

[Fatboxingfan]

It's clear Joshua has no desire left for the sport. He was not just whipped physically but mentally and emotionally his heart isn't in it anymore. He can't adjust to this beatdown, he'll get beat down again.

[Alpha]

Povetkin and Hunter continue to face tough opposition. Credit to both guys.

[Master]

Anthony Joshua vs Andy Ruiz 2 undercard: Michael Hunter, Alexander Povetkin and Scott Quigg added to bill

Alexander Povetkin and Michael Hunter will meet on the undercard of Andy Ruiz Jr vs Anthony Joshua II in Saudi Arabia.

The first three undercard fights for the 7 December show in Riyadh have been announced with former WBA super-bantamweight champion Scott Quigg set to take on Ireland’s Jono Carroll.

Filip Hrgovic with also be in action, taking on a former Joshua opponent in Eric Molina.

Hunter, who signed with Matchroom Boxing earlier this year, has just one defeat as a professional, a decision loss to the peerless Oleksandr Usyk in 2017. After securing an impressive win over Sergey Kuzmin in September, the 31-year-old takes on another Russian in Povetkin.

Povetkin is back on the title hunt after falling short against Joshua in September 2018, impressively dealing with Hughie Fury in his last outing in August this year.

Liam Smith vs Jessie Vargas is another rumoured undercard bout while Dereck Chisora is eager to appear on the show after stopping David Price in swift fashion last weekend.

https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/ant...191000664.html

[Memphis]

Tough one for Joshua this. The party line from Joshua and the pro Joshua crowd will be he got careless and got caught and never recovered. Technically accurate I suppose. But it removes any credit from Ruiz and completely rules out the possibility that it was always coming at some point, might not have been the third round, but it was coming. Ruiz looked totally at ease in there at all times, even when he was on the seat of his pants for the first time, he never flinched. He punched with Joshua pretty much every time and had the better success, he's faster, a more fluid and natural puncher technically, he was never not going to have some success. Why would that be different second time of asking with the added confidence (if he needed it) that he knows he can beat him and Joshua knows he can beat him.

I've said since day one that Joshua has an identity dilemma. He's supposed to be an outside boxer puncher, but his natural instinct is to be a fighter. He can keep it in check to a degree, did it pretty well against Povetkin, but because he's constantly caught between the two, when he gets close and lets fly, his body is in kill mode but his brain still seems to be on the outside and when some leather comes back at him it shorts a circuit. Saw it against Whyte, Wlad, Ruiz... people will say it's stamina, it isn't, I've never believed that. It's mental, it just manifests itself physically, but the root of the problem is his head, he burns up mentally when things go wrong. He was able to right the ship against Whyte and Wlad, Ruiz never let him off the hook.

As he matures the beaten path would suggest that he becomes more at one with the boxer puncher approach, seen it many times, Lennox Lewis the prime example. But it's horses for courses, Joshua's best approach might be to take the surprise element out of the equation and just embrace the fact that he's a fighter and take his brain with him into those firefight exchanges he likes to get himself into.

I'd like to see him reverse the loss. I'm not so sure he will.