Andy Ruiz Jr. vs Damian Knyba | FIGHT HIGHLIGHTS

It's almost go time. We're in the shadows of New York City. We're in Newark at the Prudential Center preparing for the main event. Heavyweight, the former world heavyweight champion out of the ring for over two years. That's Andy Ruiz Jr. 6'2", with a 74 inch reach, 5 inches shorter, 12 inch reach disadvantage to the big Polish fighter. I think the question for Ruiz early, we know the hand speed is still there, the chin is still there, but is the heart still there? The passion that made him heavyweight champion back in 2019 for three fights in the last seven years. No fights in the last 25 months taken their toll. And for Keneba, what happens when the going gets tough? Round three, Ruiz still working on cutting the distance, trying to land to the body, but Keneba's done a good job circling away and keeping him at bay with that jab. There's another one. Without upper body movement, that jab is going to be a problem. Andy Ruiz needs to have upper body movement, head movement, and punch over the top. Just how much Andy Ruiz wants him, just how badly he wants to be heavyweight champion. I've got Keneba winning all three of the first three rounds. Nothing spectacular. It's all behind the jab, the occasional right hand, but he's been able to keep this fight at his distance, been able to keep this fight at his pace. This is where we find out if Andy Ruiz has it in him to dig deep. He'll start putting more pop and more speed behind that jab because right now Andy Ruiz is getting closer and closer. Even with no head movement, even with no jabs, Andy Ruiz is getting closer and closer. Let's see how aggressive this referee is at warning Keneba not to hold. That could change everything as Ruiz Jr. just hasn't been able to get going. This is what I mean by not changing strategies, Xavier Keneba. It's not an exciting fight, but you can see the fans are loving what they're seeing with their Polish fighter. Just jab, jab, right hand, rinse and repeat. Shows their appreciation. Ruiz is going to need upper body movement and he's never been the upper body movement explosive type, but against a guy with a jab like this, you can't give him anything to touch. He's not here to fight, he's here to box us to a win. We got to make this guy fight. Nice job there by Ruiz, even grab on to it. There's a right hand from the Polish fighter as we look at jabs through round four. I mean an insane number of throwing, like that is like middleweight types of numbers. 280 jabs thrown, terrible percentage, just 13%, but when not a lot is coming back from Andy Ruiz, whether it's a jab or a hard shot, that's going to be enough to swing some of these early rounds. You got to be punching with Keneba if you're Ruiz, but he's not, he's not punching with him. That's what Andy Ruiz is really good at, punching his exchanges. He hasn't done that. A couple of good power shots there. That's what I mean by punching in exchanges, you punch in between the shots. Ruiz just making this too easy for Damian Keneba. Right cross. There's that right uppercut. I've been looking for that right uppercut of Keneba. Very sneaky shot. Turn this around, he may have lost all six of the first rounds, at least five I would think. Chris, how do you have it? Yeah, I've got a five rounds to one in favor of Damian Keneba. I think he's done enough. I'm not going to sit here and say Damian Keneba's having this great fight, but he's throwing the jab a lot. He's landing enough of them and hasn't been enough firepower coming back from Andy Ruiz. Even that last round, landed one good right hand upstairs. After that, it was nothing. It was back to Keneba jabbing, moving, landing good shots of his own. Even though he's had heavy feet, he has extremely fast hands, but you have to stay in front of him. You have to exchange with him for those fast hands to come into play. I think the pre-eight. Big shot. Andy Ruiz is hurt, and this is where inactivity and age come back to haunt you. Here we go. This referee giving him a long time to recover there, 10 seconds left in this round. Keneba, big shots landing. Ruiz somehow still on his feet, and that's the end of the round. Andy Ruiz got lucky there. That referee was stepping in to stop this fight when he went down. The referee made a judgment call, I guess, then to allow the fight to continue, and he made another judgment call to allow it to go on after Andy Ruiz looked pretty unresponsive to me, to those commands. Again, I'm stopping the fight. How do you know that? You got overconfident, they caught you. In his chin, out of this is one more right hand. Andy Ruiz is going to get hurt again. Andy Ruiz has never been stopped. I tell you, in a strange way, like if Keneba goes for it, that's kind of the fight Keneba wants. It's probably too little, too late, but in exchange of punches, it may be what can get Andy back in the fight. Keneba just missed a big right hand. You can see that he's, the confidence is overflowing. He's finally throwing that right hand. Boy, these jabs are just snapping the head back of Andy Ruiz. There it is again. Can the 36-year-old summon something from deep down? The Mexican Rocky. He landed a right hand, and that back Keneba. This is what you don't want to do is exchange hooks when you're that tall. You keep them with straight shots. Another warning to Keneba for holding. Big right hand for Ruiz. Now we're going to find out what Damian Keneba's got. We know the heart that Ruiz has always looks like. There's that right hand, two right hands landed for Ruiz. There you go, there's that right hand to the back, set up that shot. Keneba's hurt to the body, guys. Keneba didn't like that shot. How about the resolve of Andy Ruiz to come back and probably win that round? Do not let Keneba hurt. Punch her inside. Keep punching with that free hand. That's a good tactic by Andy Ruiz. Boy, this crowd is very loud and very into this bout. They want to see the Mexican Rocky have one more moment. There you go. See, keep chopping them down like that. That's the jab that the Polish fans were appreciative of earlier, just jabbing and moving. That jab, how does it affect? Look at the eyes of Andy Ruiz. The left one's swollen, the right one's swollen up. That's all jabs that have been taken all night. And it's frustrating if you're Andy Ruiz. A big right from Keneba. There's that right uppercut, very dangerous punch to throw. High risk, high reward for Keneba by this point of the fight. I don't think she'll be doing it anymore. Well, this may sound crazy, Chris. Maybe you'll agree, Ruiz Jr. almost might want to let him hit him a few times, so he starts letting his hands go for openings for Ruiz. It changes the pace of the fight. Sure, he landed two good shots there, Andy Ruiz, in the exchange. But once again, Keneba, back on the stick, back moving, Andy Ruiz kind of just following him around. Reasserted himself over these last two rounds. Andy Ruiz got to do something special here. Good body shot there. See, that's where the success And Keneba wants to open up right now. He's got this in the bag. He can jab his way to a win. Not experienced in these late rounds or in these big fights. Keneba's conditioning has been outstanding. For Keneba to beat Andy Ruiz, not letting him get into exchanges, not letting him use his advantages, which is speed and fast hands and combinations. Keneba controlled the middle of that ring and controlled it with that long jab. Damian Keneba, he came, he saw, he conquered as he beats Andy Ruiz Jr., at least we think so, after dropping him and nearly stopping him. What a performance by the six foot seven Polish heavyweight. All three for your winner by unanimous decision, the Polish. No surprise there as Damian Keneba beats the former heavyweight champion of the world, and it wasn't even close. It wasn't close, but one judge had a close 114-113, so it was within grasp of Andy Ruiz, but it wasn't enough. God has taken much from you to show us the truth. Surrender to it and it will set you free. 10,000 rebel armies converge on London. We will crush them. Can you not hear their rage? Rolling Theater September 10th. Discover it at Dolby Cinema. RK is the world's first zero-proof spirit that tastes like the real thing. Hold the burn, none of the hangover. Zero alcohol, zero calories, zero guilt. Train hard, celebrate smart. RK, drink differently. Several days ago, my plane crashed in the wild. Good job, buddy. Not gonna die out here. I'll get you home, heart of the beast. FBI. Hey, not. You see this? I'll see nothing. You're partnering with one of the most ruthless mobsters in history? I believe in justice. I kill them all. Meanness. Rated R. Now playing.