Before Anthony Joshua vs Andy Ruiz I, Paulie Malignaggi was one of the few to suggest that the latter had a chance of upsetting the applecart.
That came true. But does Malignaggi think Ruiz can beat Joshua again?
The former two-weight world champion joined Ronan Mullen on Off The Brawl to give his verdict on the tactical battle.
He touched first on Joshua's game-plan and how he can approach the challenge in a better way.
"I do think AJ has to impose himself more from a boxing standpoint than from a physical standpoint," he said.
Feints
"Ruiz has a tendency to punch with you. So you need to mix in your tactical with your feints, so that when he's trying to punch with you, you're throwing it off.
"And of course mixing your feints with enough shots that land. If your shots are not landing, your feints aren't going to work. Guys aren't going to bite on them because guys aren't going to be nervous.
"So you need to make your jab count and you need to make your feints count. You need to make your shots count and you have to balance all those things out. And I think if you do that enough, you actually get the knockout because Joshua's a very heavy puncher and Ruiz is a small guy who obviously is able to be knocked down by Joshua as we saw earlier in that fight."
Andy Ruiz Jr (left) and Anthony Joshua at the Diriyah Season Hospitality Lounge in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.Ruiz brought the element of surprise last time. But with Joshua now well aware of his threat, how does that change the dynamic?
"I don't think so," Malignaggi replied about the impact of the reduced surprise element.
"I don't think the element of surprise - even though he can't rely on it this time - it's always superseded by the pride in your culture.
"The pride in your culture comes from all the great fighters who come from that culture in the past.
"I expect a motivated Ruiz regardless of anything. I don't think him not being able to surprise Joshua is going to affect his mindset."
You can watch Paulie Malignaggi's full fight preview via Off The Brawl above.
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
