Spoiler Yeah, I watched it. I like Joshua as a person but this was an embarrassing result. A 'world champion' getting KO'd by a man who looks like he drinks 12 cans of Stella a night... I doubt Joshua took this seriously at all.
Spoiler: Josua fight I caught the highlighs. I had my doubts about him after his fight with Takam. I got the impression that he struggles against shorter opponents that keep an active guard and are willing to walk him down rather than trade straights at a range. He still looks like an Olympic boxer with an ultra orthodox style. Nothing wrong with that, Eastern Europeans boxers have been dining out victories for years on it, but I think if he was to improve he needs to get...less perfect and a bit dirtier. Also Josua looked gassed at the end: Over-training or not trained enough? As for Ruiz, yes he does look a bit flabby, but I think beneath he has the dimensions and solidity of a washing machine. Plus he had one plan which was to disrupt with a counter-attacking jab and whale with multiple hits when in close. It seemed to work. Besides at 32 wins 22 KO and only 1 loss he was no slouch. There's hope for us Mid-Night snackers after all...
You should go watch the Foreman v. Holyfield fight I just posted in my thread. A lot of the prefight commentary from the Holyfield camp was very much the definition of fat shaming Foreman (an undefeated 24-0 heavyweight champ with 23 KOs). Holyfield's manager was especially trollish about Foreman's body with the media. It was some of the lowest blows I'd ever seen in the ramp up to a bout, and that's saying something. Yet it turns out though that a boxer has a lot to gain by being meaty around the middle and not being just muscle and bone. As for Joshua overtraining or undertraining, I don't think either. Gassing out just comes with the territory and it doesn't always happen when you want it to, sometimes it's just circumstance.
There was a lot of talk about Joshua being knocked out in sparring not long before the fight. I'm not sure he would have won without that, but the effect on any hits he took during would have been affected by that is detrimental.
