[Sports]
Joshua is champ again. Photo: By Akira Kouchiyama Wikimedia Commons
In perhaps the biggest fight of the year Anthony Joshua proved that in boxing a former champion can come back a few months after defeat and snatch back his belts in dominating style.
Going into the December 7 rematch in Saudi Arabia, Joshua had many doubters including former heavyweight champion the great Lennox Lewis a fellow Brit. After all, Joshua had been knocked down four times in his June fight with Andy Ruiz, Jr., before he surrendered, dazed and on wobbly legs.
He’d walked into the ring a prohibitive favorite for that June 1 fight at the famous Madison Square Garden in New York and walked out the loser to the hard-hitting but pudgy Ruiz.
“He’s got a lot of weight on his shoulders. A lot of pressure…” former champion Lewis said, speaking to Talksport.com about Joshua’s chances before the fight in Saudi Arabia last week. “I think if he doesn’t come in mentally and physically prepared, he will lose.”
The other reigning heavyweight champion, American superstar Deontay Wilder, who fought a memorable fight with Tyson Fury, also speaking to Talksport.com, was even less charitable about Joshua’s chances, saying, “He got knocked down four times, and then he quit. That is huge for me. On the outside looking in, to see how that fight occurred and everything that was going on, I think he’s going to be fighting his demons inside of that ring, not just Ruiz,” Wilder told Talksport.com. Wilder added, “I really believe Andy’s gonna go in there and do it again.”
Well, as boxing fans now know, free bet no deposit, Joshua was on top of his game when he fought Ruiz on December 7. The Briton was completely dominant, punishing Ruiz all night with his powerful left jab that rearranged his face all night long. The jabs kept Ruiz on the defensive and allowed Joshua to crush his face repeatedly with hard right shots.
When Ruiz did land a few clean punches, Joshua, who was in the best shape he’s ever been in, handled the blows very well. Ironically the two fighters prepared physically in the opposite manner. Ruiz came in even pudgier, having added 16 pounds since the June fight and stepping into the ring at 268 pounds. Joshua, on the other hand, shed some of his bulkier muscles and weighed 10 pounds less. This enabled Joshua to get off his punches faster and move around the ring all night long. It was obvious that Joshua was going to be the big winner that night. Ruiz was never allowed enough time to get off clean combinations as in the first fight.
By the end of the first round when Joshua landed a vicious right shot on Ruiz’s left cheek it was clear that it was going to be a long night for the first Mexican American heavyweight champion ever. As it turns out, a fellow British fighter was more on the money when he too spoke to Talksport.com before the fight.
Tony Bellew, a former British cruiserweight, speaking of Joshua said, “he will break him down slowly and surely. I think he will go in there with the same approach as he did first time, but he won’t jump on him really quickly last time. “He had him completely gone in that third round and if he just dictated the jab and took his time going in, he gets rid of Ruiz.”
Bellew was right on the money.
Joshua walked out of the ring with a unanimous decision, regaining his World Boxing Association (WBA), International Boxing Federation (IBF), and World Boxing Organization (WBO) heavyweight titles.
Does Joshua’s victory and Wilder’s own destruction of …..in their rematch on …..now pave the way for a megafight between the two? Wilder may have to deal with Tyson Fury in a rematch first before we ever get to see Joshua versus Wilder.
Unless big dollars can induce all parties to move the pieces on boxing’s chessboard around.
Here’s to 2020.
