Anthony Joshua’ s bid to make a splash in his US debut ended in misery for the three belts heavyweight world champion with a stunning loss to underdog Andy Ruiz at Madison Square Garden on Saturday .
Ruiz recorded a monster upset , knocking down Britain ’ s Joshua four times to take the World Boxing Association , International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Organization titles .
Ruiz came into the fight as a massive 20-1 underdog . But he won it in the middle of the seventh round when the referee stopped it at 1 : 26 of the round after the fourth knockdown .
Ruiz , sent to the canvas once himself , knocked Joshua down twice in the third round and twice more in the seventh .
Joshua had a massive height and reach advantage as he weighed in at a chiselled 255 pounds compared to the portly Ruiz , who beefed up to 268 pounds compared to 250 for his most recent fight .
England ’ s Anthony Joshua ( L ) kneels after being knocked down by USA ’ s Andy Ruiz ( R ) in the 7 th round to win by TKO during their 12-round IBF , WBA , WBO & IBO World Heavyweight Championship fight at Madison Square Garden in New York on June 1 , 2019. ( Photo by TIMOTHY A . CLARY / AFP)
Ruiz , who has won four fights in a row , looked fearless and poised while Joshua — who had won all 22 of his previous bouts — never seemed to recover from the first knockdown early in the third.
