The six-pack fight!

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Gob
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The six-pack fight!

Post by Gob »

Joshua has to redeem himself after the debacle of the last fight.
When Anthony Joshua and Andy Ruiz Jr face off on Saturday night in the most controversial world heavyweight title fight for more than 40 years, their rules of engagement will be those of the Marquis of Queensberry and not Mr Olympia.

But as the two men touched the scales in Saudi Arabia it was impossible to ignore their respective physiques. Joshua sported a six-pack. His opponent looked as if he had just drunk one.

Joshua has been relaxed all week, despite the mounting criticism from Amnesty International that taking around £60m from a kingdom that has an “abysmal” human rights record, including jailing and executing opponents, was a serious misstep. But the sight of Ruiz weighing in at 20st 3lb, the second highest in heavyweight championship history behind the Russian giant Nikolai Valuev, has surely sent his confidence surging.

Joshua knows there can be only three reasons why Ruiz is now 15lbs heavier than in June, when he discombobulated his senses, and all of us watching, to rip the WBA, IBF and WBO world titles from his waist.

The first is that the Mexican-American believes the dice are loaded against him on a show run by Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn and has packed on muscle to ensure the fight does not go the distance. The second is that he was hiding an anvil under the large sombrero he wore on the scales. The least generous interpretation is that Ruiz Jr has gone full Buster Douglas.

It was Douglas who became a byword for going from glory to gluttony, following up his staggering knockout of Mike Tyson by coming in 15lbs heavier for his only world title defence against Evander Holyfield.

The contrast in appearance with Joshua, who weighed in at 16st 13lb – his lightest since 2014 – could hardly have been more stark. Defeat has given the 30-year-old Briton time to reset, to think, to level up. Not only has he trained for 16 weeks for the rematch, sparring for 12 of them – double his usual quota – he has also been zealously studying videos of old fights.

“Ever since I walked into boxing I have been dominating,” he says. “Championships, bosh! Turn pro, bosh! World champion, bosh! And then you never really understand what it is until it’s taken.”

“So I’ve really started studying boxing again. I’ve watched loads of videos, old fights. You learn about tactics, about when to move to the left against an orthodox fighter. Is it dangerous? Is it smart? What is the first art of defensive boxing? I didn’t give a fuck about the science, I just came to fight. Now I’m learning about the sweet science again.”

The vibes are good. Since arriving in Riyadh a fortnight ago, Joshua has held his sparring at a pop-up boxing ring at the British embassy in the Saudi capital. For his last session, he invited 80-100 staff to watch. One onlooker said the fighter looked sensational.

“Behind closed doors I swear I work so hard mentally and physically,” Joshua says. “I spend hours perfecting my craft. As soon as I wake up in the morning I’m listening to stuff that has relevance to mental strength. The minute before I go to sleep I’m just thinking boxing.”

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/ ... redemption
Typical of the Guardian to put "uman rights innit" into the text.
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”

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MajGenl.Meade
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Re: The six-pack fight!

Post by MajGenl.Meade »

Who are these people?
For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts

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Gob
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Re: The six-pack fight!

Post by Gob »

Boxers Meade, even Rubato could have worked that out!
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”

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MajGenl.Meade
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Re: The six-pack fight!

Post by MajGenl.Meade »

Still rebelling, are they? Tsk tsk.
For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts

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Long Run
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Re: The six-pack fight!

Post by Long Run »

Yes, just 19 more days until their special day.

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Lord Jim
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Re: The six-pack fight!

Post by Lord Jim »

Yeah, there's an asymmetry in their physical appearance, but looks can be deceiving...

Babe Ruth sure didn't have the physique of a guy you would think could hit 714 home runs...
ImageImageImage

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Econoline
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Re: The six-pack fight!

Post by Econoline »

Long Run wrote:Yes, just 19 more days until their special day.
:lol: :ok
People who are wrong are just as sure they're right as people who are right. The only difference is, they're wrong.
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Gob
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Re: The six-pack fight!

Post by Gob »

As the Mexican-American admitted afterwards: “I don’t think I prepared as good as I should have. The three months of partying affected me. I should have trained harder. I gained too much weight and I wasn’t able to throw my combinations.

Image
He had me fooled!
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”

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MajGenl.Meade
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Re: The six-pack fight!

Post by MajGenl.Meade »

I guess the good looking, muscle-toned black dude beat this one...

Image

Every dog has his Day.
For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts

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Long Run
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Re: The six-pack fight!

Post by Long Run »

Gob wrote:As the Mexican-American admitted afterwards: “I don’t think I prepared as good as I should have. The three months of partying affected me. I should have trained harder.
Who knew you need to train to do well? Now we know.

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BoSoxGal
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Re: The six-pack fight!

Post by BoSoxGal »

MajGenl.Meade wrote:I guess the good looking, muscle-toned black dude beat this one...

Image

Every dog has his Day.
Whoever did that to that dog should be barred from ever keeping animals again.


It’s one thing when humans do this to themselves- it’s despicable to do it to a pet.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan

Big RR
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Re: The six-pack fight!

Post by Big RR »

I didn't see the fight (I imagine ESPN ro someone will show the tape of it), but I was surprised Ruiz went the full 12 rounds; Joshua has a pretty impressive knockout record, and I fully thought Ruiz wouldn't last 7 rounds, especially with the extra weight. After seeing Ruiz in the first fight, I also didn't think he boxed well enough to win a decision, and I wasn't surprised there, but his stamina for the full fight showed (IMHO) that he has something going for him. He might have a future if he works a bit harder staying in shape.

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Gob
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Re: The six-pack fight!

Post by Gob »

His ability to stand punishment, and he was caught with a few big shots, was phenomenal.
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”

Big RR
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Re: The six-pack fight!

Post by Big RR »

It reminds of when Douglass beat Tyson; his "skill" was that he could take all the punishment Tyson could deal out, and we saw what happened when he took that punishment and Tyson didn't get his first round knockout. Of course, like Ruiz, Douglass was not that good a boxer and did not have the skills to win a fight on points, and his subsequent career was not very successful.

I do think Ruiz has the makings of a pretty good boxer, but he'd have to work pretty hard to develop the skills to win any decision like this.

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