Ruiz vs Joshua, 2019: The Late Replacement Who Floored a Champion Four Times, and the Diriyah Rematch

On 1 June 2019 Anthony Joshua arrived at Madison Square Garden as an unbeaten unified heavyweight champion making his American debut. He left without his belts, stopped in the seventh round by Andy Ruiz Jr., a late substitute from Imperial, California, who had put him on the canvas four times. Six months later, in an open-air arena in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, Joshua boxed his way back to the titles over twelve disciplined rounds.

A Main Event Without an Opponent

The fight New York had been sold was Joshua against Jarrell Miller, an undefeated Brooklyn heavyweight whose record stood at 23-0-1. That plan fell apart in the spring. Between 20 and 31 March 2019, Miller returned three adverse findings in VADA drug testing, with GW1516, EPO and human growth hormone named among the substances. On 17 April the New York State Athletic Commission refused him a licence, and Joshua's team was left searching for a replacement less than two months before the date.

The answer was confirmed on 1 May. Andy Ruiz Jr., born in Imperial, California, in 1989 to parents who had moved north from Mexicali, had compiled a long amateur record and represented Mexico in qualifying events for the 2008 Olympics without reaching the Games. As a professional he had challenged once for a world title, losing a majority decision to Joseph Parker for the vacant WBO belt in Auckland in December 2016, with cards of 114-114, 115-113 and 115-113. On 20 April, three days after Miller was refused his licence, Ruiz had stopped Alexander Dimitrenko in five rounds in Carson, California.

Reports differ slightly on how long he had to prepare: CBS Sports put it at four weeks, the Associated Press at about five. Either way it was a short camp for a man stepping in against the holder of the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and IBO belts. Wikipedia's account of the fight records him as a 25-1 underdog, though bookmakers' prices varied. Ruiz, softer-looking at 268 pounds against Joshua's 247.75, leaned into the image. "Don't underestimate this little fat boy," he said before the bout, according to the AP.

The Third Round at Madison Square Garden

A sellout crowd of 20,201, as reported by the AP, filled the Garden. Joshua came in at 22-0, and for two rounds the night unfolded as expected, the taller champion working behind his jab while Ruiz looked for a way inside.

The third round changed everything in less than three minutes. Joshua struck first, dropping Ruiz with a two-punch combination, and appeared to be closing in on a routine finish. Ruiz rose and, rather than holding on, fired back. A left hook caught Joshua as he pressed forward and sent him down for the first time in the fight. He got up, but Ruiz kept firing, unloading a long unanswered barrage in the corner, and a second knockdown followed before the bell. In the space of one round the challenger had been down once and the champion twice.

Four Knockdowns and a Turned Back

Joshua steadied himself through the middle rounds, and the fight was far from one-sided. When it ended, according to Wikipedia's account, two judges had Ruiz ahead 57-56 and the third had Joshua up by the same margin. The seventh round settled it. Ruiz hurt Joshua again with short, compact punches and dropped him for a third time. The fourth knockdown came moments later, a right to the jaw that, per Sherdog's report, sent Joshua's mouthpiece flying.

Joshua rose once more, but his body language told its own story. CBS Sports described him turning his back on referee Michael Griffin and walking toward his corner; Sherdog wrote that he was not fully responding to the referee's questions. Griffin waved the fight off. CBS Sports, the AP and Sherdog all give the official time as 1:27 of the seventh round, while Wikipedia lists 1:33.

Ruiz had become the first heavyweight champion of Mexican descent. He thanked God in the ring, while Joshua apologised to the people who had followed him across the Atlantic. "Sorry I let my fans down, sorry I let my supporters down," he said afterward, as quoted by the AP. According to Wikipedia, Joshua had been due a purse of about $19 million against roughly $7 million for Ruiz.

The Rematch Clause and the Move to Saudi Arabia

Joshua's camp triggered the rematch clause in the contract, and on 5 September 2019 both men faced the press in Lower Manhattan to announce a second fight. It would not be in New York. The rematch was set for 7 December 2019 at Diriyah Arena in Saudi Arabia, an open-air venue that ESPN described as holding 15,000 seats. Wikipedia cites reports that Saudi Arabian authorities paid around £30 million to stage it.

The scales on the eve of the fight caught the eye. ESPN recorded Ruiz at 283.7 pounds, nearly 16 pounds heavier than in June. Joshua had gone the other way, weighing 237.8, about ten pounds lighter than for the first fight, a sign that he planned to move rather than trade.

Twelve Rounds of Distance in Diriyah

That is how it played out. Joshua stayed on his toes, kept his jab in Ruiz's face and refused the close-range exchanges that had undone him at the Garden. He opened a cut over Ruiz's left eye in the closing seconds of the first round; Ruiz answered in the second with a small cut over Joshua's left eye. Neither man was knocked down.

CompuBox figures cited by ESPN showed Joshua landing 107 of 373 punches, 29 percent, against 60 of 261 for Ruiz. The judges were unanimous: Steve Gray scored it 119-109, while Glen Feldman and Benoit Russell both had it 118-110, all for Joshua. He regained the WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO titles. "It's about hitting and not getting hit," Joshua said, according to ESPN.

Ruiz was candid. "It was his night. I don't think I prepared as good," he told ESPN. He later acknowledged, per Wikipedia, that he should have treated the fight more seriously, and admitted that the celebrations after his June triumph had eaten into his training.

What the Two Nights Left Behind

Taken together, the two fights are a study in contrasts. In New York a short-notice challenger with fast hands found the champion's chin in the third round and never let him recover. In Diriyah a lighter, more patient Joshua kept the fight at a distance where that speed never mattered. The June result is still regarded as one of the great upsets in heavyweight history; the December result showed how much a rematch can turn on what each man does with the months in between.

Sources

• Anthony Joshua vs. Andy Ruiz Jr., Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
• Andy Ruiz Jr. vs. Anthony Joshua II, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
• Andy Ruiz Jr., Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
• Andy Ruiz Jr. upsets Anthony Joshua with seventh-round TKO to claim heavyweight titles, Brian Campbell, CBS Sports, 1 June 2019
• Andy Ruiz Jr. becomes first heavyweight champion of Mexican descent after knocking out British champ Anthony Joshua, Associated Press via ABC30, June 2019
• Andy Ruiz Jr. Shocks the World with Huge TKO Over Anthony Joshua, Mike Sloan, Sherdog, 1 June 2019
• Anthony Joshua dominates Andy Ruiz Jr. to win rematch, Dan Rafael, ESPN, 7 December 2019