Andy Ruiz Jr produced one of the biggest shocks in the history of heavyweight boxing to rip Anthony Joshua’s IBF, WBO and WBA world heavyweight titles from him and tear up the division’s proposed plot lines, BBC Sport is reporting.
The defeat also marks Joshua’s first defeat as a professional. It took place at New York’s Madison Square and saw Ruiz floor Joshua four times en route to a seventh-round stoppage.
With the defeat, Joshua now joins the likes of Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson as dominant champions to suffer losses which brought the sport to a standstill.
But a beaten Joshua remains upbeat saying of the fight: “I got beaten by a good fighter. 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.”
As for Ruiz, it is a dream come true. “This is what I have been dreaming about and I cannot believe I made my dreams come true,” he says.
Ruiz was drafted in as a replacement to fight Anthony Joshua after Miller who was earlier scheduled to fight him was pulled out of the fight because Miller failed a drug test. His odds of winning the game by bookers was 1 to Joshua’s 25.
Congratulations to Andy Ruiz Jr.
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