Anthony Joshua’s US debut ended in major upset as Andy Ruiz Jr produced one of the biggest shocks in the history of heavyweight boxing to take the World Boxing Association, International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Organization titles.
In a truly remarkable fight at New York’s Madison Square Garden, Ruiz floored Joshua four times en route to a seventh-round knockout which stunned boxing fans around the world and handed the Nigerian-British boxer his first defeat.
Anthony Joshua was a 1-25 favourite with bookmakers and will now join the likes of Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson as dominant champions to suffer losses which brought the sport to a standstill.
“I got beaten by a good fighter,” said Joshua on Sky Sports. “It will be interesting to see how far he goes, but this is all part of the journey.
“He’s a champion for now, I shall return.”
After flooring Ruiz with a left hook in the third round, Joshua hit the canvas when a right crashed against his temple. By the time a sensational three minutes was up he had been down again thanks to a flurry when cornered.
Ruiz was not even supposed to be here. He took the bout at six weeks’ notice and tickets were being collected by fans 24 hours before the bout which still had the name of Jarrell Miller – Joshua’s original opponent – printed on them.
By the seventh round, when Joshua touched down under a flurry of shots again, the game looked up. Seconds later he was down on all fours again and spat his gum shield out, perhaps to buy time.
He simply did not have it. The bout was waved off and all that was planned for the glamour division was ripped up thanks to a man who had been dubbed unglamorous because of his rounded physique.
Ruiz, from appearance to pedigree, was an underdog in every sense of the word. When Britons wake up on Sunday morning, they will read of a truly iconic upset.
Ruiz, American born but with Mexican parents, becomes Mexico’s first heavyweight world champion, just as he said he would.
