The overlooked foe is often the most dangerous.
Last Saturday on June the first, Anthony Joshua suffered a shock defeat to Mexico's Andy Ruiz
Junior. The upset came in the seventh round as Joshua
was deemed unable to continue. There were very few people who expected Ruiz
to put up any kind of fight, with fans dismissing his chances
right from the get go.
But to those hardcore boxing fans, Ruiz was always a formiddable opponent. Ruiz has great
speed and skills, which is a dangerous mix especially up at the heavyweight
ranks. While a small few knew not to judge a book by its cover,
the vast majority of fans around the world slated Ruiz, with some even comparing him
to the kid from up.
That brings us to the question, why did Andy Ruiz Junior beat Anthony Joshua?
Sun Tzu once said so it is that good warriors take their stance on ground where they cannot
lose, and do not overlook conditions that make an
opponent prone to defeat.
Last Saturday, the conditions that would bring a defeat for Anthony Joshua were overlooked.
It was his first ever time fighting outside of the United Kingdom, and the fight
was promoted less as a fight, and more as a welcoming party. He seemed unprepared and
unconditioned to defeat Ruiz.
Ruiz dropped him twice in the third round, and twice in the seventh. The first knockdown
came just after Joshua had knocked Ruiz down with a left hook, with Ruiz fighting
fire with fire and clipping Joshua at the top of the head. The shot was very
similiar to the shot Dillian Whyte landed on Joshua back in 2015.
It seemed everytime Joshua scored a convincing blow he would open himself up looking to take
out Ruiz, while in the meantime exposing himself to Ruiz's counters. It was
a great performance from Ruiz, he boxed well with sharp jabs to the body
to tire down Joshua.
But while the reason for Joshua's loss does seem to be due to a great effort by Ruiz,
there are some fans who have pointed out inconsistancies throughout
the whole night. Firstly Joshua was late coming out of
his dressing room, later clarified by Joshua himself who said it was to deal with a problem
with his groin protecter. However it is nonetheless
uncharacteristic from Joshua.
Secondly, Joshua was seen throughout the announcements grinding on his gumshields, and while it may
simply be a common exercise to warm up the jaws, we
don't often see Joshua bite down on his gumshields like he did last saturday night.
Thirdly, the instructions from the corner were very questionable. In a heavyweight championship
bout you'd expect the coach to have a more advanced understanding
of how the fight is going, but Joshua's coach Robert McCracken gave out simple orders such
as 'throw the left and the right' and 'be busier,' which in some
people's eyes was terrible advice. As Joshua had just been hurt badly, being busier would
be exactly what not to do.
Feedback such as keeping Ruiz at the end of the jab, keeping his right hand up while throwing
the left hook, and not to go crazy when he lands a big shot would
have helped out Joshua much better.
But because of the poor basic tactical advice, along with incorrect preparation, Joshua was
left asking questions in the corner, even asking 'Why
do I feel like this' at the end of the second round along with asking what shot he got hit
with.
While Joshua insists that there was nothing wrong with him before hand, fans cant help
but guess there's something he's not telling us. Especially when you consider that
Anthony Joshua's father can be seen waving his hands and condemning Eddie Hearn after
the fight, as if he was blaming Eddie for putting Joshua in the ring that night.
Along with the fact that Joshua's face seemed banged up and bruised during fight week, it's
hard not to assume that Joshua did not come into the ring 100 percent
ready.
Joshua was classy in the aftermath, congratulating Ruiz on his achievement. Ruiz became the first
ever Mexican heavyweight champion in history, and in the process gained many
fans around the world. Only Joshua knows why he couldn't perform in his debut at the mecca
of boxing, it could have been the pressure that comes
along with retaining an undefeated record, it might have been the nice guy act he fell
for in the build up to the fight, or maybe Ruiz
really is just that great.
There is a rematch clause written in the contract, which means a rematch is most likely to happen
by years end. This fight for Joshua is now a must-win, the true measure of Anthony
Joshua is not the depth to which he falls to, it's the height to which he jumps back
to.
What do you think went wrong for Anthony Joshua last Saturday night? Let us know in the comment
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