News 2 June 2019
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Anthony Joshua loses heavyweight titles to Andy Ruiz Jr

2 June 2019
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Fans in the UK are waking up to the shocking news that Anthony Joshua has lost his match against Andy Ruiz Jr; forfeiting his heavyweight titles to the Mexican-American boxer.

The highly anticipated fight took place at Madison Square Garden in New York City in front of a crowd of 20,000 and marked Joshua’s American debut.

The fight was stopped in the seventh round by the referee after Joshua took damage throughout; notably in the third round where the heavyweight was knocked down on two occasions by Ruiz Jr.

Ruiz Jr. was brought in as a replacement opponent after Jarrell Miller failed two drugs tests and was subsequently disqualified from competing in this match. Read more about this here.

Andy Ruiz Jr. now becomes the first ever Mexican heavyweight world champion. On his win, Ruiz said, “This is what I have been dreaming about and I cannot believe I made my dreams come true. That was my first time getting dropped on the floor but it made me want it even more and I just thank God. I have got that Mexican blood in me and that just proved it. Right now, I just want to celebrate. I made history for Mexico”.

On this loss, Joshua stayed humble and conveyed good sportsmanship by expressing support for Ruiz. Joshua said, “Boxing is a tough sport, but I train hard and I got beaten by a good fighter, it will be interesting to see how far he goes, but this is all part of the journey. This is the risk we take, every fighter deserves respect so congratulations to him. I respect every fighter, this is all part of the legacy, it’s how strong I came back. He’s a champion for now, I shall return”.

Check out AJ’s full interview with Sky Sports below.

Anthony Joshua did confirm that he will use the rematch clause in his contract and seek to fight against Ruiz again.

As we wait for the rematch, click here to watch episode three of Anthony Joshua and Meek Mill’s 40 Days documentary.