The undefeated British World Heavyweight Champion Anthony Joshua (22-1, 21 KO) got an upsetting defeat agaisnt Andy Ruiz Jr. (33-1, 22 KO) this Saturday night. It left the boxing world in awe when the latter took the seventh round TKO win over the former champ.
Nobody saw this coming. Confident going into the bout, Joshua never considered the possibility of a second match with Ruiz:
“I didn’t even ask about a rematch clause because I was so confident I was going to win. If it’s there, we’ll go again and I’ll get the titles back. I’m going to beat him up. I’m not dwelling on it. You just correct it, you adjust, you sit down, you focus and you go again.”
He tried to stay upbeat about the loss though:
“Trust me, I come from a good family, but where I was at in life, I’ve dealt with more shit than this.”
He said:
“I’ve dealt with some real big losses and I’ve bounced back. Life is a journey. This is boxing. What I have to do is re-evaluate the situation, make it better and we go again. We didn’t come this far to stop, we didn’t come this far to fold under pressure. We came this far and I definitely feel like we can go a lot further.”
Entering into the contest as an underdog, the Mexican-American, Ruiz Jr. had to earn this victory. He took some fire in the shape of a massive left hook in the third round. Not only did he survive the blow but turned the tables by flooring Joshua with a furious punching flurry. He managed to shake the former champ a number of occasions and finally knocked him down in the opening minute of the seventh round. Moments later Ruiz knocked Anthony Joshua down again, who did not return when asked by referee Michael Griffin if he wanted to continue.
Andy Ruiz took to social media and dedicated his win to all the fellow underdogs and boxers who carry extra weight on them:
With a stunning victory over Anthony Joshua, Ruiz Jr now has a score of 33-1. Meanwhile Eddie Hearn confirms that Joshua and Ruiz will have a rematch before the end of 2019.