The Mexican no-hoper Andy Ruiz Jr stunned Britain’s WBA, IBF and WBO champion to shake up heavyweight boxing’s established order in dramatic style.
But Ruiz, the 25/1 underdog, is understood to have made only around £5million from the fight at New York’s iconic Madison Square Garden.
Compare that to the whopping £20m Joshua is thought to have made and you see just how wide the gulf in class between these two boxers was supposed to be.
He took the fight with just five weeks’ notice after Joshua’s original opponent Jarrell Miller failed three drugs tests in the build-up.
Any suggestion that Ruiz might arrive in the ring to pick up his pay cheque and lose as expected was quickly quashed as the rounds went on.
After recovering from a third-round knockdown, the Mexican showed off his devastating hand speed to knock down Joshua four times and force referee Mike Griffin to call it off in the seventh.
The cash is the largest purse of Ruiz’s career but he can expect to earn a lot more than that in any rematch later this year.
His previous biggest payday came in at a reported £770,000 for his defeat by New Zealand’s Joseph Parker in 2017.
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn confirmed a second fight was on the cards with fans expecting it to come at Wembley in December.
The Briton can forget about any superfights with the likes of Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury for now.
The next task is to get his belts back but when he faces Ruiz again it is sure to be on very different terms.
The Sun
