Joshua Stunned by Ruiz Jr

Joshua Stunned by Ruiz Jr

All the plans, talk of undisputed titles have been blown away, at least for now.

The late notice replacement Andy Ruiz Jr stunned Anthony Joshua in 7 rounds to now hold all but one of the various world heavyweight titles.

It wasn’t quite ‘Buster’ Douglas but it wasn’t far off. Joshua looked mentally switched off even during the tediously long pre-fight introductions, flat, over-confident, he didn’t look primed for a fight.

The fight suddenly exploded to life in the 3rd, Ruiz was dropped for the first time in his career, and when Joshua went in for the kill, he found himself hurt and dropped twice in a sensational round.

Ruiz with the fight at his mercy didn’t press the fight in the 4th, and you got the feeling his chance had gone.

But Joshua always looked vulnerable, he looked wary of opening up, every single time he did, you sensed the danger in front of him.

Joshua rallied in the 5th, but he looked out on his feet again in the 6th, clearly showing signs of fatigue.

The end came in the 7th, Joshua was dropped twice more before the referee waved it off.

Ruiz took his chance, and deserves his moment.

Joshua will get his rematch, but the flaws have been clearly highlighted again, much more than what Klitschko showed us.

The likes of Deontay Wilder and Dillian Whyte will wish they would have answered the call, Ruiz did and showed every other fighter it should be about the opportunity and not the purse split.

Photo Credit: Matchroom