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EXPLAINED: Why Anthony Joshua was AHEAD on one judge’s scorecard

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According to the official judges’ scorecards for Andy Ruiz v Anthony Joshua at the weekend, the contest was split at the time of the stoppage.

Despite Ruiz dropping Joshua FOUR TIMES in the fight, the specific timing of when Ruiz put the former champ on the canvas meant the bout was closer.

In the third, Ruiz was planted himself, meaning Joshua would immediately get a 10-8 round. Joshua then going down equalled the fight up again.

A knockdown each cancels out the other in a specific round, meaning the session was all square. Ruiz then dropping Joshua again carded 10-8 for the Mexican-American.

The rounds where there were no knockdowns were judged on what those at ringside liked specifically.

Judge Pasquale Procopio gave Joshua four of the other five rounds. Michael Alexander and Julie Lederman handed Joshua three of those stanzas respectively.

The ending to the clash in the seventh negated the final two knockdowns. If scored, the cards would have looked a lot different.

Effectively, the seventh would have gone down as 10-7, that’s if counted.

Ultimately, the final totals of 57-56 (twice) to Ruiz and 56-57 to Joshua would have looked more like 67-63 (twice) and 66-64 to Ruiz.

RUIZ

After the contest, Ruiz was obviously on cloud nine at the stunning turn of events.

On the upset victory: “I want to thank God for giving me this victory, without him this wouldn’t be possible. I just feel so good, man. This is what I have been dreaming about. This is what I have been working hard for. I can’t believe I just made my dreams come true. I just want to thank my team and my family. The sky is the limit, baby.”


On what happened in the third round: “That was my first time getting dropped on the floor. It just made me stronger. It just made me want it more. I just had to knock him down back.”

On taking Anthony Joshua’s power: “It’s because of the Mexican warrior I am, I have that Mexican blood in me. Talking about the Mexican fighting style, I just proved it.”

On sensing that Anthony Joshua was hurt: “I could but I just didn’t want to throw away what I had. I just wanted to hunt him down even more and work the body. I just wanted to listen to the game plan.”

On a rematch clause: “Of course man, right now, I just want to celebrate. I just made history for Mexico. This is what I have been dreaming about since I was six years old.”

Phil Jay is Editor of World Boxing News. Follow on Twitter @PhilDJay