The last time Andy Ruiz Jr shook up the heavyweight division, he ripped the titles from Anthony Joshua in one of boxing’s great modern shocks. In New Jersey, seven years on, he found himself on the wrong side of an upset.
At the Prudential Center on Friday night, Poland’s Damian Knyba outworked and outlasted the former world champion, handing Ruiz a unanimous decision defeat in his first fight for two years. The cards told the story of a night that never quite caught fire for the Mexican: 117-110, 114-113, 114-113 to Knyba.
This was meant to be the restart. A new deal with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom, a trimmed-down Ruiz talking about activity, risk, and another run at the top. Instead, he ran into a 6ft 7in heavyweight who refused to play the role of comeback opponent.
Knyba boxed with discipline and nerve. He kept his shape, used his reach, and never allowed Ruiz to settle into the fast-handed combinations that once shredded Joshua. When Ruiz did close the distance, the Pole stayed calm, picked his punches, and banked rounds.
The turning point came in the seventh. Ruiz’s legs betrayed him and he hit the canvas, his comeback suddenly hanging by a thread as the seconds ticked away. The bell rescued him, but the damage on the scorecards – and in momentum – was clear.
Ruiz, now 36 and carrying a black eye as a souvenir, tried to rally late. He pressed, he swung, he hunted for the kind of breakthrough that once made him the most unlikely of unified heavyweight champions. Knyba wouldn’t crack. He stuck to the plan, refused to trade recklessly, and saw the fight out with the composure of a man who knew exactly what this win could mean.
When the final bell rang, there was no controversy. Ruiz had his moments, but not enough of them. The lay-off, the injuries that have stalked him since the Joshua rematch in 2019, the rust of two inactive years – all of it showed in the margins where elite fights are won and lost.
Ruiz, though, did not sound like a man ready to disappear. He pointed to the long break, praised the level of opposition, and underlined why he had chosen a dangerous assignment in Knyba rather than a soft touch. He spoke of risk, of still “having it” inside him, of the need now to stay active and get straight back into the ring.
For Knyba, this was more than a scalp. It was a springboard. Beating a former world champion on American soil instantly drags his name into heavyweight conversations that previously passed him by. He wasted no time, using the moment to call out WBC heavyweight champion Agit Kabayel, the German who stopped him earlier this year.
“I really want a rematch with Kabayel,” he said, his intent clear. He knows what that first defeat cost him. Now he has a win that could bring him right back to the doorstep of a title shot.
Ruiz must rebuild again, this time with fewer years ahead of him and less margin for error. Knyba walks away with the kind of victory that can change a career. One former champion searching for a second act; one ambitious contender chasing revenge and a belt.
In a heavyweight era still searching for its next wave, nights like this can quietly redraw the map.
