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Andy Ruiz Jr. has created one of the biggest setbacks in heavyweight history by canceling Anthony Joshua's debut in the US with a seventh-round TKO on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.
A 29-year-old relentless native from Southern California, a replacement opponent announced five weeks earlier that he was an outsider (11-1), fell from the ground in the third round to bring down two Joshua Once before the end of the frame, he then sent the champion slamming on the canvas for the third and fourth time in the seventh round before referee Mike Griffin put an end to the procedure at 1:27.
It was not a fluke. No knockout a lucky punch that can be explained away by a promoter to the language of money. Joshua was out of the ordinary, defeated and beaten one night who returned the division.
"I feel so good, man," said Ruiz, exalted, who absorbed Joshua's belts in WBA, WBO and IBF at a shock comparable to that of Buster Douglas vs. Mike Tyson and James Braddock against Max Baer among the greatest in the division for centuries. annals. "That's what I dreamed about. That's what I've worked hard for. I can not believe that I just realized my dreams. "
Ruiz (33-1, 22 KOs), who was only in the position for the shocking surprise because Joshua's original opponent, Jarrell Miller of Brooklyn, failed three tests for different performance-enhancing drugs shortly afterwards. 39, the announcement of the confrontation, became the first Mexican downhill fighter to win a heavyweight title in the most dramatic fashionably imaginable.
Joshua's physical advantages in height (four inches) and in reach (eight) seemed even more disturbing in the light of the garden lights as he pbaded the first round to fight against the back foot while Ruiz advanced in pursuit. The 2012 Olympic gold medalist continued to measure the distance in the second as Ruiz struggled to negotiate.
The expected result seemed imminent at the third moment when Joshua sent Ruiz on the bridge early in the match. "It was the first time I dropped on the floor," Ruiz said. "It just made me stronger. That made me want to have more. I just had to reverse it. "
The challenger beat the count, refused to tackle Joshua for the final approach, then logged on Joshua's jaw during a shootout at the center of the ring and returned the champion on the web.
Joshua (22-1, 21 KO) got up but Ruiz went hunting around the ring, pushing the champion back to the corner. Towards the end of the third, Ruiz landed on a huge right that sent Joshua to the ground and almost through the ropes. The champion straightened him and was saved by the bell.
The injured champion, unable to handle the speed of the smaller man's hand, was still in shock when the bell rang for the fourth to begin. Curiously, Ruiz recoiled rather than resume the badault pell-mell. Each man had tasted the power of the other and both seemed suspicious as they kept their distance, which allowed Joshua to find his foot. The familiar pattern continued until the fifth when Ruiz sued Joshua, who dropped the counters in a slow retreat that the challenger went through like raindrops.
But Ruiz had an excellent performance at the end of the sixth before giving up Joshua early in the seventh. The champion got up but the underdog let him down again. The referee's decision to set off a pandemonium in the building caused screams among the announced crowd of 20,201 spectators, many of whom left Britain to witness Joshua's first fight on American soil.
Joshua suggested that the stop was premature as a result, but stopped criticizing the referee.
"I want to fight," said Joshua, who recorded 47 shots on 176 (27%) according to CompuBox statistics, against 56 out of 206 (27%) for Ruiz. "I do not do [the referee’s] employment. I am never one of those fighters to disrespect an arbitrator as he should have done this or that. He called when he thought I could not fight. It's a pity. But I do not want anyone drowning in their sorrows. It's the long game, not the short game. "
The shock torpedo the highly anticipated summit meeting between Joshua and Deontay Wilder, who holds the WBC version of the heavyweight championship since 2015.
"He was not a real champion," Wilder said. tweeted. "His whole career has been composed of lies, contradictions and gifts. The facts and now we know who was running who !!! "
Eddie Hearn, who promotes Joshua, then announced that his fighter would apply an immediate revenge clause.
"AJ has been neglected," says Eddie Hearn, who promotes Joshua. "It was a nice combination in the third round. He had total control of the fight, but he was sloppy and never recovered. Listen, tonight was his night but AJ will come back 100% and we will do revenge in the UK in November or December. But this night belongs now to Andy Ruiz. "
He added: "AJ has the heart of a lion and will come back stronger. Now at least we know the opponent by the end of the year in the UK. Absolutely, we will adopt immediate revenge. He will be devastated when he sinks. This will make the fall battle an imperative to win.
Joshua, to his credit, was optimistic in his defeat while baderting that he wanted immediate revenge.
"It was just not my night," he said at an interview in the ring before moving on to the post-fight press conference. "I just have to change a few notches and bring it back in my own way. I do not want people to drown in their sorrows. This will show that I have power and strength. "
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