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Martin Devlin: Andy Ruiz Jr is the undisputed heavyweight champion

Author
Martin Devlin,
Publish Date
Fri, 7 Jun 2019, 12:42PM

Martin Devlin: Andy Ruiz Jr is the undisputed heavyweight champion

Author
Martin Devlin,
Publish Date
Fri, 7 Jun 2019, 12:42PM

Repeat after me: Andy Ruiz Jr is the undisputed heavyweight champ of the world.

One week after embarrassing the incredible hulk that is/was Anthony Joshua, the boxing world is still struggling to deal with the fact that this man, in the shape he is, now holds the  ultimate title in pugilist sport.

So how did he do it ask the gym body brigade? Simple. He knocked him down, then he did it again.

The greatest thing about the heavyweight division is that it always has been and always will be a one punch contest.

Get it wrong, lower your guard, miss for a microsecond and the most unlikely of challengers can suddenly become the champion.

Ruiz Junior's win will go down as one of the sport's all-time legendary upsets. Think Tyson vs Douglas, Liston/Ali, Ali/Foreman, Ali/Spinks, Lennox/McCall and Lennox/Rahman to name a few.

Each of those bouts had 2 major things in common, first the seismic size of the upset and second the champ being caught out by a combination of over-confidence and under-preparedness. For a start Ruiz wasn't even meant to be the opponent.

Originally scheduled to fight Jarrell Miller, Joshua called in the boxing burrito after Miller tested positive for EPO & HGH. I mean if he was riding the Tour de France hand the bloke a yellow jersey, but in the murky world of professional punching such substances are apparently one big no-no.

Read into that entirely what you will. Now of course Mr Ruiz's  nickname is not enchilada, tostada or any other cheap insult aimed at his obvious penchant for the late night Uber Eats, in fact he's called "Destroyer".

This, he assures, has nothing to do with what he might do to you in the ring but a reflection of his over-exuberance around anything breakable as a young child. Make no mistake, AR Jr is a legitimate champion. He is the bonafide king of the heavyweight ring because he KNOCKED THE CHAMP OUT.

Watch the replay and you'll see that by the time the ref stopped the fight Anthony Joshua was ready to quit. He was  out of breath, out of ideas and out on his feet.

My point being that at at this level of the game how you look is irrelevant compared to how you hit. Ruiz was put down, got up, fought back and won the fight fair and square.

Mexico has every reason to be proud of their first ever Heavyweight Champ. Remember the name, Andy "Destroyer" Ruiz - because you know everyone in Camp AJ certainly will.

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