In one of the saddest moments in heavyweight boxing since the days of Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield, Anthony Joshua fell to Andy Ruiz in his stateside debut at the Madison Square Garden (MSG) in New York on Saturday.
The 29 year old lost all four belts to the Mexican-American, who has now made history as the first Mexican to become the world heavyweight champion.
The tables have been turned. Now Anthony Joshua must do all he can to win back his place atop the heavyweight division.
The Fight!
Joshua came into the fight as the bigger man, going against a relatively new face to the division, and anyone at the MSG could have easily predicted a quick T.K.O in favor of the British fighter who has defeated tougher looking fighters in the past.
Ruiz, on the other hand, looked like he could not even take a punch due to his excess body fat and dominant folds on his stomach. He was immediately written off by fans seeing as the Mexican had nothing on Joshua who was head and shoulders above him.
Looks can be deceiving and Ruiz proved this when he defied all odds and defeated Joshua by TKO in the seventh round.
Joshua was in control as always as the fight kicked off, landing a few clinical blows to Ruiz.
However, in the third round, Ruiz sent Joshua crashing to the canvas twice. The champions never really recovered from the hit.
Ruiz took advantage of Joshua’s ego during the fight to force the champ to open up. The Mexican quickly countered with technical combos that caught Joshua by surprise.
The champ fought back for a few more rounds, but it was clear that Ruiz had him where he wanted him.
In the sixth round Joshua held back his punches waiting for the right opportunity to pummel Ruiz, but Ruiz took advantage of the moment and aggressively manhandled Joshua with critical combos that rattled the brit and forced him to take another eight count in the seventh round.
Joshua got up, only to be sent down again by another succession of punches from the Mexican.
Referee Griffin took the enervated Joshua to his corner before waving the contest off.
Now Joshua must get back to deep training and prepare to win his belts back when he takes on Ruiz in his rematch tie in a couple of months.
Source: Mirror
Featured image source: CBS Sports
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