From fiction to reality

From fiction to reality

Sometimes certain outcomes are unlikely to happen, boxing is unwritten and it only takes a second to knock out your opponent.

When Tyson lost to James Douglas on February 11, 1990 it represented the biggest surprise in the history of the sport, above all, in those years “Iron” Mike was considered an extraordinary human being, but he fell, he fell against a boxer who had everything against him, even his feelings.

Just a week before the fight that would take place in Japan, James “Buster” Douglas lost his mother, Douglas was a boxer who went from being a promising boxer to an average heavyweight and being against Tyson was a heavyweight with no chances, but boxing is more than assumptions or realities, many times it surpasses fiction and James Douglas knocked out Tyson in Japan, before a surprised world and the odds that were against him 42 to 1.

29 years after that surprising defeat, boxing gave us another story worthy of a movie.

Anthony Joshua began to prepare his legacy in the distant 2016, when he became world champion, Joshua showed the world his greatness when he defeated the legendary Vladimir Klitschko, ending his career and thus taking his place as the new representative of the heavyweight, at that time the heavyweight division was regaining notoriety, it was 15 years where the Klitschko brothers dominated the most important division of boxing and in the West the division was dead.

Joshua shared reign with a dominant and powerful Deontay Wilder, the issue with Joshua is that he had the position of the “perfect” boxer, with an enviable physique, with an enviable height, with an enviable personality and most importantly as the world champion, not to mention his gold medal in london 2012.

Anthony Joshua had practically everything, he only lacked one thing, to conquer the United States.

Joshua had never fought outside the United Kingdom, in soccer stadiums where the boxing atmosphere is completely different from what we are used to, the chosen one to receive the great heavyweight champion was Jarrell Miller, an undefeated heavyweight, aggressive and who did not stop attacking Joshua with his provocations, the perfect place for this war was Madison Square Garden, the most important venue in the history of boxing.

A month before the expected fight Miller failed three drug tests, three drug tests is too much, Joshua was left without an opponent a few days before the important fight, that’s how the protagonist of this story Andy Ruiz appears.

Andy Ruiz is a boxer of Mexican origin, he made his entire amateur career in Mexico and even made his Olympic qualifiers representing Mexicali, Ruiz was not listed as a commercial heavyweight, his physique was completely the opposite of what was seen in the division, he was chubby and short, he contacted Eddie Hearn, Andy had a fight this weekend and the only thing he asked Hearn is to see the fight, not before telling him that he was the opponent who could fight Joshua.

Ruiz knocked out Joshua in his previous fight and after that he was put in place of Jarrell Miller, for many, it seemed like a bad joke to put a fighter with Joshua’s physical qualities against Andy Ruiz, no one trusted that Ruiz could snatch the victory from the champion and apparently it would just be another fight for Joshua.

Things could not have been more different, Ruiz destroyed Joshua’s world in just a few rounds, he went down for the first time in the third round, he assimilated it and got up enraged to hit Joshua, who I’m sure had never felt a punch as solid as that.

The surprise could not have been greater, a large number of English had arrived in New York to see Joshua consolidate in the United States, that could not be fulfilled.

From my point of view that day something changed inside Joshua, he was not the same boxer again and although he could redeem himself in the rematch, things were not the same, Ruiz was sloppy and out of rhythm due to his indiscipline and some time later Oleksandr Usyk would snatch his glory again, not once, but twice.

Joshua never returned to the United States, he was never able to establish himself as a heavyweight in the West and we all witnessed the feat of Ruiz, who was nicknamed by many as the Mexican Rocky.