Following her defeat against Norma Dumont, Alan Jouban and Din Thomas both agreed that too much pressure was put on Aspen Ladd.
“I think the moment was too big for her,” said Jouban when discussing the fight on ESPN. “You’re away for a while and the demographic of fighting has changed so much.”
After a series of unfortunate events occurred, which prevented Ladd from getting a fight in the last two years, Jouban believed that the magnitude of the moment may have gotten the better of her.
“If you’re away before the pandemic and everything is happening at the Apex and it’s this quiet arena and you’re going up a weight class, two knee surgeries, two fights fell apart… It’s a lot to take on for your first time back.”
Ladd’s camp expectations
Ladd had been a strong favourite to win and Jouban believes her camp also expected more from her than her performance showed.
“You talk to your coaches, you strategise, you gameplan. They saw something during fight camp that led them to believe she’s got a lot more, she’s shown a lot more in camp. She didn’t show it tonight and I think she had an off night.”
Jouban went on to say that when she looks back on that fight she will see what she would have needed to have done in the opening three rounds.
Following those weaker opening three rounds against Norma Dumont, Aspen Ladd’s coach had plenty to criticise and when she returned to her corner he didn’t sugarcoat it.
“You’re down 3-0. Please tell me what you’re doing. You have to throw more than one punch.”
While Din Thomas pointed out that her coach firing her up before had worked, he also believed that the two-year layoff could have led to her issues on the night.
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