Where there once was magic, now came reality.
After famously conquering a physical specimen, this time the physical mismatch allowed no such heroism.
Former heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz Jnr moved one big step closer to retirement Friday night at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, losing by 12-round unanimous decision to 6′ 7″ Damian Knyba by scores of 117-110, 114-113, 114-113.
Ruiz, 35-2-1 (22 KOs), out of the ring for two years, is back working with trainer Manny Robles after the pair teamed up to pull off the stunning June 2019 TKO of then-unified champion Anthony Joshua, one state over at Madison Square Garden.
Ruiz refused to close his career, saying, “I just need to stay active, ”and asking to “run it back,” with Knyba, even though that appears unlikely.
Poland’s Knyba, 17-1 (11 KOs), was stopped in the third round by WBC heavyweight champion Agit Kabayel in January and wants to build back to that rematch.
Knyba leaned all night on his massive 86-inch reach to pick at Ruiz, who stood five inches shorter.
Ruiz, of Imperial, California, hadn’t fought since a 2024 majority draw against Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller in Los Angeles, but still vowed his commitment to training for a last stab at reclaiming a title belt,
Ruiz was recently signed by Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing.
Knyba worked to keep Ruiz at distance from the start, peppering the former champion with jabs while scooting from Ruiz’s power shots.
“This feeling is so amazing,” Knyba said, asking for a rematch with Kabayel.
“I used my physical attributes – my reach, my movement. I had great stamina. I can do 12 rounds all night long. I’m ready to fight anyone,” said Knyba.
Ruiz couldn’t solve the 12-inch reach disadvantage in the second either, with Knyba looking willing to stink the place out with a jab-fest.
Knyba controlled Ruiz’s surges in the fourth, forcing the 36-year-old to rally as the scorecard deficits piled up.
“You’ve got to beat him to the punch; you’ve got to be first,” Robles told Ruiz, who was complaining to his corner of being held.
Finally, Ruiz found Knyba with a right to the head in an exchange, cutting the statuesque Pole near the left eye.
The end of Ruiz’s career began to look evident in the seventh, as his supporters urgently pleaded with him to unleash some barrages and dare to get at closer range.
Then a vicious 1-2 by Knyba staggered Ruiz badly and swelled his left eye, leading to his getting floored by a brutal combination that nearly forced the fight’s stoppage as Ruiz stood at the eight-count and barely convinced referee David Franciosi to let the bout continue.
Ruiz was warned by Robles that subsequent damage would have him stop the fight, but Ruiz, who has never been knocked out, rallied with hard rights to the head and body that hurt Knyba, who had never been past the eighth round until Friday.
Ruiz pulled himself off the mat to defeat Joshua and three-time title challenger Chris Arreola, but the rally attempt at 36 versus the behemoth Knyba was met by more jabs and frustration in the 10th.
“He was holding every time I came in, and I couldn’t get my combinations off,” Ruiz said.
Knyba closed the bout purposefully by battering unanswered jabs at Ruiz’s head.
