A look back at Anthony Joshua’s horror night in New York

With the much-anticipated rematch between Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk just around the corner, boxing fans will be watching with great interest to see if the Ukrainian can yet again be at his clinical best – or whether Joshua can correct his mistakes and secure the upset.

Coming in as the Oleksandr Usyk vs Anthony Joshua odds underdog, Joshua will be hoping this could be a redemption story similar to that of when he fought Andy Ruiz Jr. in a pair of fights in 2019. To understand more about what a win would mean for Joshua’s career, let’s take a look at his loss and subsequent win in the rematch against the Mexican, along with what preceded that famous night in New York.

When Anthony Joshua delivered an incredible eleventh round knockout against Hall of Famer Wladimir Klitschko in front of 90,000 fans at Wembley in 2016, it signalled the birth of a heavyweight superstar.

While there was already plenty of buzz surrounding the Watford native affectionately known as “AJ” prior to his showdown with Klitschko – many felt more needed to be seen to determine whether the talk of him becoming an all-time great was justified. He passed with flying colours, and at that point in his career, it appeared as though his achievements were on a trajectory that would see his legacy surpass many of the great British boxers past and present. 

That was until the fateful evening in June at Madison Square Garden, when he took on Ruiz Jr. in what was Joshua’s American debut. The then Manny Robles-trained Ruiz Jr. was a late replacement for Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller, who was scrapped from the card due to failing multiple drug tests. For those who aren’t avid fans of the sport, Ruiz Jr. was a relative unknown – and many were of the belief that he would purely act as cannon fodder to aid Joshua’s rising starpower globally.

However, the Mexican had other ideas. His lightning quick hand speed, accuracy in exchanges and powers of recovery made him an absolute match-up nightmare for AJ. Despite knocking him down in the third round with a beautiful left hand, Joshua’s propensity to overreach with his punches when trading with a hurt opponent came back to bite him. As Ruiz Jr. regained his bearings after the knockdown and began to re-engage with Joshua – his poise, technique and defensive awareness proved too much for the British heavyweight. 

Ruiz Jr. landed a beautiful left hook directly to the temple, immediately hurting Joshua and putting him on wobbly legs. He then proceeded to knock AJ down twice throughout the remainder of the third round, leaving fans aghast as to what they were witnessing. Although Joshua chose to stay behind the jab through rounds 4-6, it was clear for all to see that his compromised equilibrium was still hindering his output. The Mexican chose to take full advantage of his vulnerable opponent in the seventh round, knocking him down a further two times before the referee stopped the fight. 

As one could imagine, the blowback from such an unexpected defeat was swift and brutal. Everything from being called a flat-track bully, a quitter and soft were hurled his way, forcing Joshua to do some soul-searching to ensure he could rectify what went wrong. To his credit, he exercised his immediate rematch clause and fought Ruiz Jr. in Saudi Arabia in December of the same year. Joshua’s approach was visibly different in the second bout, choosing to keep his shorter opponent in Ruiz Jr. at bay with a piercing jab and only engaging when required. The Englishman cruised to a unanimous decision win and restored his standing as one of the best heavyweights in the world.