The cracks in Joshua’s game were visible before losing to Ruiz

[pound per pound]

He beat a 41 year old Wlad, and cheated by spitting out his mouthpiece when he was shaky legs to gain extra time to recover.

He was losing to Povetkin who like Wlad was old at age 39. He was rocked and had his knees buckled.

These are his best wins. He had trouble with both of them and probably would have lost if each man was in their prime. If old heavyweight could do this, what is going to happen when he faces a top ten heavyweight in his prime who comes to fight?

Enter Andy Ruiz jr. Not a big puncher but a man with a pair of stones who unlike say Parker wasn’t afraid to throw punches. He wasn’t old.

And we know what happened. Now every single heavyweight with power on Ruiz’s level or better will have additional confidence when facing Johsua. Joshua will have less. If Ruiz had huge power, this loss would not be that bad. After all, just about every heavyweight can be caught by a big puncher. Ruiz does not. He's not very tall by the standards of today at 6'2" tall. Ruiz has a reach of just 74". And he's got about 30 pounds of fat on him.

When it comes to the ability to take a punch, Joshua is maybe just a shade above average. His biggest problem his ability to quickly recover from a good punch, that is below average. He just doesn't get this legs back quickly enough.

In the end, he spat out his mouth piece again, hoping to gain time, the ref gave him plenty of time. Then AJ said then said that's it, and we have a new champion. You could argue the ref gave Joshua too much time in round three, and the bell saved him.

[Thomastearns]

Probably better to keep a clear perspective. I remember it wasn't all that long ago when some here were proclaiming Anthony Joshua the best of all times.

He himself never did.

[DrDuke]

Yes, Joshua has quite some amount of well seen flaws.

He's not fluid, he's pretty robotic, his movement and defence aren't special, he can't box outside of his comfort zone and becomes absolutely clueless, when he gets caught.

I've always picked Fury over him. The only hesitation time was when Fury returned rusty vs Seferi, but real Fury was back in his next fight vs Pianeta, since this moment I began to believe in him again and picked him to outbox Wilder.

Yet I was sure, that Joshua would handle Ruiz, despite having all those flaws. But Joshua failed to do that. Now I'm confident, that Wilder will land on AJ too, if they meet, and AJ won't overcome it.

[pound per pound]

Probably better to keep a clear perspective. I remember it wasn't all that long ago when some here were proclaiming Anthony Joshua the best of all times.

He himself never did.

I never got that. This was his fans talking silly. AJ can be a humble guy.

[cormack]

you forget the Whyte fight where AJ was wobbled but knocked out his opponent .

[pound per pound]

you forget the Whyte fight where AJ was wobbled but knocked out his opponent .

True. Didn't AJ swing on the break here to after getting hurt?

[Bard of Boxrec]

Every time an upset like this happens, the sages come out and say why it was so inevitable all along. It’s happened since the dawn of boxrec.

Joshua is a top fighter with the best record in the division, just deal with it. He was ‘exposed’ only so far as he was underprepared and got caught, by a better than expected challenger, that’s boxing. His real test now is dealing with this setback and coming back strong. Very confident he’ll win the rematch and achieve greatness.

Just a bump in the road. Like all the greats had ;)

[pound per pound]

Every time an upset like this happens, the sages come out and say why it was so inevitable all along. It’s happened since the dawn of boxrec.

Joshua is a top fighter with the best record in the division, just deal with it. He was ‘exposed’ only so far as he was underprepared and got caught, by a better than expected challenger, that’s boxing. His real test now is dealing with this setback and coming back strong. Very confident he’ll win the rematch and achieve greatness.

Just a bump in the road. Like all the greats had ;)

Who did he beat and how old were they when he beat them? You can answer that question, and I pointed out he had trouble in both of his top wins over older men. He was exposed before in fights vs. old men.

Also, he wasn't caught by one big punch, he was caught several times. If Joshua had a fight controlling jab, better movement/ defense, or a better chin, he would have won last night. Sorry mate, the cracks are evident. He also opted not to continue in the fight, which shows the limitations on his resolve. Can he come back? I think so, but I also think he's going to get stopped again will never be quite as good as some of his delusional fans thought he was.

I think Fury out points him and Wilder as limited has he is now 50/50 vs AJ. There is a good group of younger talent on the way up, almost all of whom punch harder than Ruiz will also have Joshua's name on their resume ow wins. Well see what type of come back he has, and let's hold off on he's one of the greats. He was just one of the best in the world who never fought the top talent in their prime.

[Thomastearns]

Of course the Anthony Joshua revisionism is in full flow right now but its worth mentioning just how hard it is to travel in boxing especially, even for great champions, past and present.

Anthony Joshua is not the first to come unstuck in this way. Again, shades of Tyson v Douglas.

Heck, it once even happened to Sugar Ray Robinson!