Anthony Joshua: Brand vs Legacy

Anthony Joshua: Brand vs Legacy

By Simon Graham

If like me, you witnessed the events at Madison Square Garden the shock of Anthony Joshua’s defeat is a bitter pill to swallow, I’m certain that when this fight was announced you were amongst the majority of fight fans that wrote off the chances of Andy Ruiz Jnr.

This fight was lost the minute Ruiz Jnr sat down at his computer and tweeted his resume to the Matchroom team, for Ruiz to have taken to social media to call out the champion took guts, courage and an unbelievable amount of self-belief in his ability.

So many times, we see two fighters come together on the pre-fight media stage hell bent on destroying each other’s persona via trash talk coupled with attempts at getting under the others skin, the mind game is a major part of boxing, the Ruiz jnr camp played this card to perfection.

At first glance you look at Ruiz Jnr and see a 6ft 2 ” podgy fighter, a man who has been overlooked for several years, apart from his majority decision loss to Joseph Parker which incidentally many ringside thought he had won, it is easy to see why Ruiz was viewed as just another stepping stone to the bigger prize, the undisputed prize.

In prize fighting you underestimate your opponent at your peril, Matchroom boxing and the AJ team must have been ecstatic to have been hand delivered what should have been an easy victory for their first overseas fight. However, in a brutal sport when the worlds eyes are upon you there is no room for error, as a champion you must give everything or go out on your shield.

The Ruiz team played their hand during the bout, they played the bluff expertly, they actually came to fight, they came to upset the Joshua game plan and win the battle, pre-fight week Ruiz had played the meek and mild AJ fan boy posing for pictures with the champion, heaping praise upon praise on the man and lulling the AJ team into a false sense of security. He had clearly done his homework Ruiz and his team were ready to hatch their plan and shock the world.

The Ruiz team consists of a father, brother and coach while on the flip side you have the multi person team brand of Joshua, Joshua is an Olympic Champion with a 22 fight winning pro career, Ruiz had 105 amatuer fights representing Mexico at the Olympics, his pro career consisting of 33 wins with one majority loss, the Mexicans experience was there for all to see, we just didn’t take it seriously.

Complacency played a part in this fight of that there is no doubt however a distinct lack of experience not just with Joshua but his team as a whole was clear to see too, between rounds you had Joshua asking what he should do only to be given poor, basic advice which ironically Joshua ignored and payed the ultimate price.

Ruiz in all fairness is an ordinary fighter that executed the fundamental skills of boxing to perfection, Ruiz stepped into the ring eager to show his worth and take his chance at the biggest prize in sport, a fighter stepped into the ring against a man who had the weight of a brand on his shoulders.

Before he could even concentrate of the boxing match, Joshua had to deal with the media frenzy, the hype surrounding his first overseas defence of his titles and then the multiple millions of dollars in future revenue.

This fight was lost weeks before the first bell, but to get back on top Joshua needs to drop the pop star lifestyle, step away from his friends and hangers on who should in their own rights be rich by now and get back to the basics, his team has taken him as far as they can the loyalty he has shown them has been paid more than enough times, elite fighters which he could be need elite trainers and coaches to take them to the level where an ever lasting legacy is built.

As champion of the world Lennox Lewis lost to Oliver McCall, ditched his staff and came back to cement a legacy with new elite coaching staff, Wladimir Klitschko did the same when he lost to Ross Purity, both men went on to be trained by the late great Manny Steward, do you see where I’m going with this.

Joshua has some serious thinking to do without his team whispering sweet nothings in his ear, what is the most important aspect of his career to him personally, his brand or his legacy, its time to decide.