With the shock of last night’s massive upset win scored by Andy Ruiz – who was listed as a whopping 33-1 underdog in certain places – still sinking in, fans are wondering what on earth will come next in the now totally shaken up heavyweight division. Joshua, who has shown class in making zero excuses following his devastating four-knockdown, 7th round stoppage loss, has a rematch clause and already there is talk he and “Destroyer” Ruiz will do it again, in the UK, before the end of the year.
Joshua has vowed to bounce back – “I don’t condone losing,” he said at the post-fight presser – but it could be a very risky thing going straight back in with Ruiz. All along, promoter Eddie Hearn said he was worried about last night’s fight (a replacement match of AJ against Jarrell Miller), that the fast hands belonging to the naturally aggressive Ruiz could cause Joshua problems in his US debut. And once again, Hearn has been proven to be a truth-teller.
Now Hearn has to decide, or Joshua has to decide, whether or not going right back in with Ruiz is a smart idea or not. As crushing as last night’s defeat was, a second loss to Ruiz would be absolutely awful for AJ. And it could happen. is fast counters all wrong for Joshua, the history-making Ruiz seems set to prove he is no one trick pony, no flash in the pan. As Joshua said himself after finding out first hand how good Ruiz is, it will be interesting to see how far the 29 year old can go.
“It’s all part of the journey,” Joshua said after losing for the first time as a pro. if Andy Ruiz makes the journey to the UK and fights Joshua next, who knows, it could prove to be the end of his journey at world title level.
Full Results:
12 x 3 mins WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO Heavyweight World Championships
ANDY RUIZ JR W TKO ANTHONY JOSHUA
12 x 3 mins WBA ‘Super’ World, WBC Diamond, Ring Magazine Super-Middleweight titles
CALLUM SMITH W TKO 3 HASSAN N’DAM
10 x 3 mins IBF, WBC, WBO, WBA, Ring Magazine Women’s Lightweight World Championships
KATIE TAYLOR W 10 PTS DELFINE PERSOON.
10 x 3 mins WBA International Welterweight title
JOSH KELLY DRAW RAY ROBINSON
10 x 3 mins WBA International Light-Heavyweight title
JOSHUA BUATSI W TKO 4 MARCO ANOTINIO PERIBAN
12 x 3 mins WBO International Super-Lightweight title
CHRIS ALGIERI W TKO 8 TOMMY COYLE
8 x 3 mins Super-Welterweight contest
SOULEYMANE CISSOKHO W 8 WLADIMIR HERNANDEZ
4 x 3 mins Middleweight contest
AUSTIN WILLIAMS W TKO 1 QUADEER JENKINS