It was revenge for Anthony Joshua (23-1, 21 KOs) in the Clash of the Dunes, as he won a unanimous decision against Andy Ruiz Jr. (33-2, 22 KOs) taking back his WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO heavyweight titles.
A tentative start to the fight by both men, neither Ruiz or Joshua really opened up in the first round. Ruiz landed some good right hands to the body, but it was Joshua who landed the best shot of the round when he stumbled Ruiz with a hard right hand.
Ruiz landed a good shot to the body of Joshua in the second round. A double jab from Ruiz opened up a cut above the left eye of Joshua. ‘AJ’ did well to stay on his feet at the end of the fourth round, as Ruiz landed a big overhand right followed by a good left hook.
The Brit recovered well by having a good fifth round, keeping Ruiz on the end of his jabs and snapping back the head of the Mexican with some good power punches. Joshua continued his success in the seventh round, landing the power shots then getting out of the pocket to avoid the return from Ruiz.
In the later rounds, the story of the fight repeated itself as Joshua continued to land his jab and right straight, whilst Ruiz was clearly getting desperate as he realized he was down on the scorecards. Although he was still in the fight, Ruiz had little success other than a few overhand right’s, and Joshua jabbed his way to a unanimous decision win on the judges’ scorecards.
Official result: Anthony Joshua def. Andy Ruiz Jr. via unanimous decision (118-110, 118-110, 119-109)
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