Anthony Joshua beat Andy Ruiz Jr on a unanimous points decision in a heavyweight world championship rematch in Saudi Arabia on Saturday night to reclaim the titles he lost to his Mexican-American opponent in a shock upset last June.
For the most part, Joshua was able to keep the fight at distance and use his stiff left jab as a cattle prod to keep him his opponent at bay and rack up the points.
At the end, the judges’ scored the fight – 118-110, 118-110 and 119-109 to Joshua after 12 scheduled rounds.
Before Saturday night only three fighters in the 127-year history of the world heavyweight title had successfully regained their title in a direct rematch, from the 10 fighters who attempted it: Floyd Patterson, Muhammad Ali and Lennox Lewis. That is the company Joshua now keeps – although he will certainly have to improve to be mentioned in the breath as Ali and Lewis in the pantheon.
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