Former unified heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz Jr. (35-3-1, 22 KOs) made his Matchroom Boxing debut against Damian Knyba (18-1, 11 KOs) on Friday night at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. After his performance, Ruiz may have to think seriously about his boxing future.
Knyba dropped Ruiz in Round 7 and used a lethal jab to defeat the former world champion by unanimous decision.
Two judges scored the fight 114-113, and one judge had it 117-110.
According to CompuBox, 127 of Knyba’s 191 landed punches were jabs.
Overall, Knyba outlanded Ruiz 191 to 119.
After the knockdown in Round 7, the 36-year-old Ruiz did fight back and appeared to have Knyba hurt, but it wasn’t enough.
What’s Next?
With the win, Knyba, who entered the fight coming off a stoppage loss to Agit Kabayel in January, delivered an impressive performance. To his credit, the 30-year-old Knyba used his reach effectively and consistently worked behind his jab.
Can he contend for a world title? Probably not, but he is not an easy night for any of the top heavyweights.
As for Ruiz, he has to think about his future. Ruiz has had questionable conditioning over the years, which might be catching up to him. However, his biggest issue might be inactivity.
Since 2019, Ruiz has fought only five times, and before Friday night, he had not competed since August 2024. That’s not good. Activity matters. Is Ruiz done? No, but if he wants to be a factor in the heavyweight division, he needs to be more active.
One More Thing…
Those scorecards were awful. The 114-113 scorecards submitted by judges Glenn Feldman and Kevin Morgan were ridiculous. The crazy part is that if Knyba hadn’t dropped Ruiz, the fight would have been scored a majority draw. In the end, the right fighter won, but the margins should have been wider.
