Heavyweight Showdown
Last night’s Matchroom/TNT/DAZN Main Event between former Unified Heavyweight Champion of the World, Andy “Destroyer” Ruiz Jr. (35-3-1, 22 Kos) and Damian “Polish Hussar” Knyba (18-1, 11 Kos) turned out to be an interesting bout with an unexpected outcome when all was said and done at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
With Andy coming in this bout looking in his best physical shape, many anticipated the old Andy to show up and handle “The Polish Hussar” with ease but with Andy not having graced the inside of that squared circle after a two-year layoff, what we witnessed was a shadow of himself who had to deal with a 6ft 7 jabbing machine who definitely had the right “game plan”.
Damian’s reach, movement and active jab did a number on Andy’s face and had him confused and discouraged as the rounds progressed. I was impressed by Damian’s strategy who used every bit of his physical attributes to deter Andy from landing anything significant enough to trouble him in this bout.
This may not have been the most exciting bout to watch but Damian did manage to raise the atmosphere and the crowd in the building when he viscously dropped Andy with a 10-piece combination in the seventh round. With the referee giving Andy a standing 8 count and added time, Andy managed to survive the round.
Andy, still shook off the seventh round, attempted to up his offensive approach with some urgency in the later rounds but Damian played his position to a “T” and kept that sniper like jab in his face while still landing the cleaner punches.
After 12 rounds of one-sided action, the Judges at hand scored it 117-110, 114-113 and 114-113, unanimously for Damian Knyba.
Them two Judges who scored this bout 114-113 are straight out of pocket for this one. Real Talk! Damian may have been the underdog on the night but he undeniably earned this win hands down.
Congratulations, Damian. Well done!
Blaze