[1] After coming in as a 25–1 underdog, in a shocking upset, Ruiz Jr. won the match via technical knockout in the seventh round,[2][3] ending Joshua's undefeated record and becoming the new unified heavyweight champion.

The fight is considered one of the biggest upsets in boxing history, drawing comparisons to Mike Tyson vs. Buster Douglas in 1990 and Lennox Lewis vs. Hasim Rahman in 2001.

Meanwhile, Parker made two defenses of his WBO title until he lost to unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in March 2018.

[5] Whilst still waiting for Hearn to contact him, Whyte claimed to hear rumours that Joshua would cancel the Wembley date and instead fight American contender Jarrell Miller at Madison Square Garden.

[28] Ruiz became a frontrunner[29] after it was reported Luis Ortiz's team had rejected two offers of career high purses to fight Joshua.

[35] In preparation for the fight, Andy Ruiz watched videos of Mike Tyson, working on some of the techniques he used to beat larger heavyweights, and identified weaknesses in Anthony Joshua that he could exploit.

Ruiz rose to his feet, responded to instructions, and seemingly unfazed by Joshua's power, quickly resumed attacking.

Just before the close of round three, Ruiz again managed to fell a clearly disoriented Joshua after forcing him into a corner and unleashing a series of power punches.

Rounds four, five, and six consisted of minor exchanges between Ruiz and Joshua, with both fighters seeking a mid-round rally to boost their points on the scorecards.

With two minutes and twenty seven seconds remaining in round seven, Ruiz knocked over Joshua once again with a short sequence of heavy blows.

In spite of this, Joshua managed to get back on his feet once again, and was able to engage Ruiz briefly before being floored for a fourth and final time, with one minute and fifty nine seconds left in the round.

Almost immediately after dropping to the canvas, Joshua spat out his mouthpiece before rising, turned away from the referee, and walked somewhat unsteadily back to his corner.

Seemingly disoriented and hesitant to continue the match, Joshua's responses to questioning were deemed insufficient, resulting in the referee waving off the fight.

[37] The referee subsequently awarded Ruiz a round seven TKO victory, making him the first Mexican-American and second Hispanic heavyweight champion in boxing history.

[38] A massive underdog entering the fight, many regarded Ruiz as nothing more than a replacement who stood little-to-no chance against the heavily favored Joshua.

[47] On Sky Sports Box Office, the fight sold 652,000 pay-per-view buys in the United Kingdom,[48] where it aired at 3.30 am on Sunday morning.

[49] The fight set an online piracy viewership record, with live illegal streams watched by more than 13 million viewers worldwide, surpassing Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury.