Most people that have watched the video of the fight will do a double take. In fact, when I showed it to my wife she was quick to exclaim it was fake. It could not be real. It simply didn’t make any sense.
The fight took place over the weekend, June 1, for the unification of the Heavyweight Boxing Title of the World. In boxing, there really isn’t one Champion as there are in other sports. Rather, there are a bunch of Boxing Associations and each has their own Champion. For this fight, Anthony Joshua and Andy Ruiz were contending to unify the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight titles.
The odds were on Joshua’s favor, as the odd-makers had him as high as a 25:1 winner. The fight only lasted 20 minutes (less 7 full rounds) and by the time it was over, a chubby kid was the new Champion.
It was this dichotomy between the fighters that made the upset so much more magical. Watching the two fighters side by side prior to the fight, only Ruiz’s family and coach could have believed he’d win. But win he did.
After the video was over my wife turned to me and said “I guess you can never judge a book by its cover“. More right, she could not be.
