Few would have predicted the beating dished out by Mexican-American Ruiz, who put Joshua down four times before winning via stoppage in the seventh round.

It was among the greatest upsets in boxing history as massive favorite Joshua suffered the first defeat of his professional career and was relieved of his IBF, WBO and WBA titles – as well the carefully built-up narrative that the Brit was supposedly establishing himself as among the greats.

Joshua floored Ruiz in the third round, but was ultimately well and truly beaten in an upset arguably to rival Mike Tyson’s famous loss to Buster Douglas and Lennox Lewis’ defeat to Hasim Rahman.

Ruiz, a 25-1 outsider, had only taken the fight at six weeks’ notice, having been drafted in when Jarrell Miller failed a drugs test.

Joshua was making his long-awaited US bow in front of 19,000 fans at the hallowed Madison Square Garden, and Ruiz’s physique compared to his British opponent’s well-chiseled frame had been the particular source of humor for many heading into the bout.

But after the Mexican-American pulled of a stunning upset, social media was abuzz with shock as well as fans going in on Joshua for a shambolic performance.