In a flash, fans a Madison Square Garden went from chanting Anthony Joshua's name to the tune of "Seven Nation Army" to collectively gasping as he hit the canvas not once, but twice in the third round. From there it was all downhill for Joshua and everyone who bet on him as a -5000 favorite.
Less than 15 minutes later, Ruiz Jr. did the unthinkable in a fight where he was the ultimate underdog. Ruiz became the first ever Mexican-American heavyweight champion after defeating Anthony Joshua by 7th-round TKO.
Worst Bet Of The Night: A bettor placed a $100,000 bet at a William Hill sportsbook in Nevada for Anthony Joshua to win tonight. It would have netted $5,000 in a win. It paid nothing.
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) June 2, 2019
Ruiz closed as a 10-1 underdog to win at the Westgate Las Vegas Superbook, 14-1 to win at the FanDuel sportsbook and 20-1 to win by knockout.
It was Joshua who actually scored the first knockdown in the third round and looked as if he was on the verge of finishing the job. Ruiz, however, did not back down, climbing off the mat to floor Joshua four times throughout the fight including twice in the in the seventh round.
Ruiz absolutely bullied Joshua throughout the fight and out-landed the British star 56-47 in total punches, according to CompuBox.
96 percent of all bets that William Hill wrote in the state of Nevada was on Andy Ruiz Jr. 90% of the total money, however, was on the favorite Anthony Joshua. William Hill’s Nick Bogdanovich said because Ruiz was 12/1, the money added up, making the sportsbook a “small loser.”
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) June 2, 2019
Joshua appeared dizzy and even went to the wrong corner before referee Michael Griffin called the fight off.
Moving forward, this puts a potential super fight with WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder or lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury as far on the back burner as possible.
For now, Ruiz bettors can rejoice in their man pulling off something virtually nobody on the planet outside of his team could have predicted.
"Nobody would've known that I was gonna win. Nobody did," Ruiz told reporters after the fight. "And everybody that bet on me is gonna make some serious money."
