(Over) Confidence: How do you tell?

Confidence is such an odd thing. You need the right amount of it to envision a path forward of what potential success will look like, but you can't allow it to delude you from even the (what would be) simplest decisions.

I heavily admire Anthony Joshua and I think he's one of the greatest athletic personalities of our generation.

When he lost his fight last night and I caught wind of the news, it was one of those "I'll never forget where I was when it happened" moments.

This was a big deal.

Let's forget the fact that his opponent Andy Ruiz, is a 29-year-old, baby-faced, and somewhat puggier heavyweight and on paper shouldn't stand a chance against the IBF, WBA, and WBO Champion.

This fight was not even supposed to happen. Anthony Joshua's fight debut in the US (he's formally hosted and won all of his matches in Britain) was intended to be against Deontay Wilder, but Wilder tested 3x positive for performance-enhancing drugs leading up to the match.

Ruiz was "just" a replacement for the unified heavyweight champ during his first fight on American soil. It had all the amenities built around the fight—the best venue in the world in Madison Square Garden, Celebrity hype, viral media attention—but it wasn't the match-up avid boxing fans wanted to see.

I didn't even bother to watch it. It was missing that "it" factor.

However, Ruiz and Co. didn't fail to bring it.

For the first time ever, Anthony Joshua who had fought in 84 rounds resulting in 95% of them being KOs, was now on the receiving end of the flurry of Ruiz's fast hands.

The fight started off as everyone anticipated: in the 3rd round, Anthony delivered a beautiful two-punch combo that sent Ruiz to the floor. But he let his (over) confidence kick in. He started to relax.

Shortly after, Ruiz indulged in a right hand to the top of Joshua's head that reciprocally sent Anthony to the floor. This was followed by a mad 12-punch flurry—yes, 12— in the ring corner that sent Joshua down for the 2nd time in the 3rd round.

Madison Square Garden was held to silence as they witnessed the barrage of landed head & body swings by Ruiz. The fight concluded in the 7th round with a technical knockout as Joshua made the formidable decision to bow out.

I think this article paints the best picture around the takeaway: "(Joshua) was too confident...".

One of the things that I fight with (pun intended) is what does it mean to be "too confident"? How do you measure overconfidence? How do you draw the line with being too married to your vision that it disables you from making the smart decisions?

Side note: You often read stories of "visionaries" (think Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr.) who possessed a certain belief regarding how they saw the world in the future and it was because of the confidence they instilled in themselves and others that those things materialized. End side note.

If you ever followed any videos about Anthony Joshua online, he personifies professionalism when it comes to representing himself and the sport of boxing. He doesn't boast, he credits all his success to his team and the people around him, and he trains f*@!#%& hard!

Yes, he does stay in the limelight to provide a platform that shows the beautiful art of the sport, but you'll never catch him misrepresenting his values and the level-headedness that he possesses.

At what point did he start becoming over-confident? HOW DO YOU MEASURE OR QUANTIFY THIS?! Based on this article, the over-confidence started to take form as early as the contract negotiations. Can he accurately pinpoint and find critical points where he let poor decision making consume him? More importantly, can he be progressive in not allowing those situations to happen again?

My conclusion is that everyone needs those moments where they need an ego check. Just like many things in life, confidence is one of those things that don't stay stagnant; you either possess too little or too much. It's never "just right."

It's your job to stay as level-headed as possible, celebrate the small victories when you need a confidence boost, and don't be so hard on yourself when life punches you in the f$%#!$g mouth.

This is how we grow.

Congratulations to Andy Ruiz on the incredible victory and I hope you enjoy it while it lasts! You fought an unorthodox, yet beautiful match and this was a big win for you, your team, and your home country of Mexico.

Don't let it get to your head. Re-match in November ;)