On The Watch “It’s All About Andy Ruiz Jr. vs Damian Knyba”

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

On The Watch “It’s All About Shakur Stevenson vs Robsen Conceicao”


WBC/WBO/Ring Magazine Junior Lightweight Championship

Last night’s Top Rank/ESPN Main Event between former WBC/WBO/Ring Magazine Junior Lightweight Champion Shakur Stevenson (19-0, 9 Kos) and Robsen Conceicao (17-2, 8 Kos) was simply a showcase type of an event for the homegrown combatant Shakur at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ.

Due to Shakur missing weight for the contested bout of 130 pounds, Shakur was stripped of his WBC/WBO/Ring Magazine Junior Lightweight Championship belts and was unable to defend them as Champion.

That being said, the bout continued as planned and Shakur proceeded to put on a hell of a performance in front of his hometown fans by easily dismantling his opponent like it was a sparring session.

No disrespect to Robson, who is a highly decorated Olympian and a very worthy opponent for Shakur, fell miserably short in his second attempt at a potential title opportunity.

What looked good on paper turned out to be a mismatch from start to finish. Robson simply did not have the right “game plan” to take such a skillful combatant like Shakur.

Shakur’s surprising approach was to walk down and go through Robson’s offense with ease. Shakur hardly moved around the ring as he usually does and instead stood his ground going toe to toe administering non- contested punches to his opponent at will. That approach took Conceicao by surprise and left him bewildered and confused throughout the entire bout.

Whatever Conceicao did manage to land on Shakur had absolutely no effect whatsoever in deterring the Champ from having his way inside that squared circle. Shakur’s dominance from start to finish was impressive. Although Shakur was unable to stop Conceicao within the 12-round bout, his total dominance of his opponent could not be denied. Shakur was simply too big, too strong, too savvy inside that squared circle.

The Judges for the night had absolutely no trouble in scoring this bout 119-108, 118-108 and 117-109 unanimously for Shakur Stevenson.

Another easy night for the Kid – now on to new challenges at the 135-Pound Division.

Blaze