By Luke Reddy
BBC Sport in Riyadh
Anthony Joshua became a two-time world heavyweight champion with a unanimous points victory over Andy Ruiz Jr in a tense rematch in Saudi Arabia.
Six months on from the night Ruiz stunned boxing, Joshua risked seeing his career left in tatters with a second defeat, but served up 36 minutes of movement and well-timed punching to take the IBF, WBA and WBO titles back to Britain.
After cutting his Mexican rival inside the first round he never looked back and picked outsmart jabs and right hands throughout before being serenaded with chants of “AJ, AJ, AJ” by 14,000 or so fans in the Diriyah Arena.
Ruiz never looked close to landing a knockdown and when scores of 118-110 118-110 and 119-109 were read out, Joshua jumped up and down in the ring in celebration, just as the man who had wrecked his US debut did in June.
Promoter Eddie Hearn: “Madison Square Garden was a humiliation, he went down four times – people wrote him off, said he had no heart, he quit. He went back, brushed himself down and went back to work to prove you all wrong. It was an absolute masterclass, a shutout, a way of boxing people didn’t believe he could do.
“He taught himself to box like that – the discipline was incredible. All the things no-one thought he possessed. That’s because he’s getting better. What heavyweight has a resume like him? Give him respect; he has changed the face of boxing. A great individual with a big heart.
“I have represented Anthony since he turned pro. He is a very close friend of mine. The strength he has shown is unbelievable. When was the last time we had a role model like this? We should be so proud. An absolute role model for our country.”
Joshua’s trainer Robert McCracken: “I think he was where I wanted him to be for this fight. He has listened in camp, worked really hard, and I thought he boxed very well against a dangerous fighter.
“Andy Ruiz is a real danger and he is very quick and heavy-handed. There were a couple of times Josh went into mid-range and came unstuck but he settled back down in the corner and got back on it. His weight was great and his jab was tremendous.”
BBC Radio 5 Live boxing pundit Steve Bunce: “AJ was absolutely clinical and he never wasted a shot. That was class and he stuck to his plan. Beautiful to watch.
“He got it right in spectacular fashion. He has been steely and nasty.”
Joshua gets it right all night
Joshua, 30, now joins a small cluster of men including Muhammad Ali, Lennox Lewis, Evander Holyfield, Mike Tyson, and Floyd Patterson to have reclaimed the world heavyweight title.