By Scott Gilfoid: Leonard Ellerbe has looked into his crystal ball and he sees Anthony Joshua having a bad night on December 7th when faces his former conqueror Andy Ruiz Jr. in Saudi Arabia.
The Mayweather Promotions CEO Ellerbe sees heavyweight champion Ruiz Jr. (33-1, 22 KOs) as having Joshua’s number, and he’s predicting the same outcome as their first fight on June 1 in New York.
While Ellerbe is expecting to see improvements from Joshua (22-1, 21 KOs) for this fight, but he also is expecting Ruiz to have elevated his game to the next level. The end result is Joshua won’t be able to improve enough to balance out Ruiz’s advancements to his game. As such, Joshua will lose again.
Joshua needs a complete OVERHAUL of his game
You hate to say it, but Anthony’s problem is he needs to overhaul his entire game from top to bottom. He’s not going to do that with the same old trainer Rob McCracken, who failed to fix all his flaws in the first place. The only way to improve Joshua is you got to sweep out the old trainer, and bring in a new one. But he’s not doing that for some reason.
Joshua thinks he can improve with the old ideas from McCracken, and he’s about to find out the hard way that it’s probably not going to work. As the old saying goes, ‘Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.’
Ellerbe: Joshua vs. Ruiz Jr. will be the SAME result
“Andy knows what he’s doing. He’s been fighting for quite some time,” said Ellerbe to Fino Boxing in discussing the Ruiz Jr. vs. Joshua rematch. “He’s got tons of experience, and big amateur background. And he’s been in with Joshua before, so he knows what he brings to the table,” said Ellerbe about Ruiz. “I fully expect Joshua to be much better than he was in the first fight, but I also expect Andy to be better too.
“Him [Ruiz] and [trainer] Manny [Robles] know exactly [what to do]. They have a great game plan coming into the fight, and I’m pretty convinced we’re going to see the same result. I think Andy is going to clip him. In the heavyweight division, one punch can change anything. Anthony Joshua is a tremendous fighter, but I just think Andy Ruiz is better,” said Ellerbe.
There’s really not much more Joshua can try to do to win the rematch that he already hasn’t tried. He’s reportedly lost gads of weight in hopes of improving his speed and stamina, but his chin is the real issue. Joshua can’t do anything about that.
Joshua’s predicted game plan for the Ruiz rematch:
- Movement
- Holding
- Jabbing
- Lighter weight
- Keeping action on the outside
- Placing rematch in Saudi Arabia
Deontay Wilder KOs Tyson Fury within five rounds – Ellerbe
“No, but I think he gets knocked out in five rounds though,” said Ellerbe when asked if Tyson Fury’s cut will cause him problems in Deontay Wilder rematch. I’m very confident of that. Actually, I just rewatched the first fight last night. He [Fury] had success early. Wilder came on in the second half of the fight, and Wilder was able to put him on the canvas psychologically,” said Ellerbe about Wilder’s mastery of Fury in the second half of their fight.
“That plays in your mind in a rematch, because he’s tasted Deontay’s power,” said Ellerbe. “So he [Fury] knows what can happen. So if Wilder is able to get passed [Luis] Ortiz next Saturday night, that [Wilder vs. Fury 2] is a massive, massive fight. With the two major platforms with Fox and ESPN being able to come together, that is HUGE.
“You have two excellent fighters. But Ortiz has plans to ruin the whole thing. He’s looking to be in that mix himself, you know? So we can’t count Ortiz out. Deontay is the heavy favorite for a reason, because he’s the top dog in the heavyweight division,” said Ellberbe.
Wilder had Fury completely figured out by round 7
In rewatching the Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury fight, it’s clear that the Bronze Bomber had figured out his style by the second half of the contest. All the little tricks that Fury had been using with success in the first six rounds, were OBSOLETE by the second part of the fight. It was target practice for Wilder from the 7th round on, and Fury knew that. That’s why he was on the run.
Fury might as well have hoisted the white flag of surrender up the flagpole, because he was no longer even trying to win. He was on the retreat from Wilder, and the fight looked like it had gotten out of hand. Wilder dropped Fury in the 9th round with a nice hand to the head. After Fury got up, and he took off running and giving just the rounds away.
In the 12th, Fury was completely exhausted, and no longer capable of running any longer. At that point, Wilder nailed Fury with a right hand that knocked him senseless Wilder then tapped Fury with a weak left hook that bowled him over.
Fury was so hurt from the right hand, Wilder got have jabbed and he would have collapsed into a heap. He was out cold on the canvas, and the referee gave a count in a bizarre episode. When do you see a referee giving a count to a knocked out fighter in this era? You just don’t anymore. It’s too risky, but this referee did.