Joseph Parker vs. Andy Ruiz
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| Date | 10 December 2016 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | Vector Arena, Auckland, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | WBO heavyweight title | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Parker wins via 12-round majority decision (115–113, 115–113, 114–114) |
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| Boxer |
 Joseph Parker
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 Andy Ruiz
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|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | — | "The Destroyer" | |
| Hometown | Auckland, New Zealand | Mexicali, Mexico | |
| Pre-fight record | 21–0 (18 KOs) | 29–0 (19 KOs) | |
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | |
| Weight | 246 3⁄4 lb (111.9 kg) | 255 3⁄4 lb (116.0 kg) | |
| Style | Orthodox | Orthodox | |
| Recognition | WBO Oriental and Africa heavyweight champion | NABF heavyweight champion |
Joseph Parker vs. Andy Ruiz, billed as History, was a professional boxing match between undefeated Joseph Parker and Andy Ruiz. It took place on 10 December 2016, at the Vector Arena in Auckland. Parker won the contest by a majority decision, with two judges scoring it 115–113 and the other 114–114. The fight was considered to be one of the most anticipated sporting events in New Zealand and Mexican history, as there had never been a New Zealand nor Mexican world heavyweight champion.
In late October, the Parker verse Ruiz title fight had been officially sanctioned by the World Boxing Organization. The organisation had granted permission to Parker fighting Andy Ruiz for their belt with their championship committee voting unanimously in favor of the title fight. The belt was vacated by Tyson Fury, who was battling depression and drug issues and hadn't fought since last November when he beat Wladimir Klitschko to snare the WBO, WBA and IBF titles. Although the WBO president Francisco Varcarcel said his preference was to set up a four-man box-off for the vacant title involving the four leading available contenders for their belt but it had gone down the route of their own rules book which gave number one ranked Parker the first rights to challenge. With number two ranked Klitschko targeted the WBA belt, cleared the way for number three Ruiz to step up against Parker.
Discussions and negotiations began after Fury was expected to be stripped of his WBO belt over inactivity and testing positive for cocaine. With his sudden announcement that he would relinquish his various heavyweight world title belts due to his issues with various problems, it was unclear exactly how the WBO and WBA would go about filling the vacancies. But before Fury vacated, Duco Events promoter Dean Lonergan announced in early October he had been negotiating an alternative WBO title fight against Andy Ruiz, suggesting he had a chance of reaching a deal with Bob Arum. He pointed out that WBO rules stated that the two best classified contenders' will challenge for the title. Arum told ESPN.com that he was in talks with the WBO about making it for the vacant title. He also said his experience dealing with Parker and his team has so far been a pleasure.
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