Andy Ruiz Jr. in talks to face Agit Kabayel opponent on September 4

Andy Ruiz Jr. vs Damian Kynba

Former unified world champion Andy Ruiz Jr. (35-2-1, 22 KOs) is in talks to fight Polish heavyweight Damian Kynba (17-1, 11 KOs) on September 4 in New Jersey.

Ruiz won the WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO world heavyweight titles from Anthony Joshua in June 2019 with a spectacular seventh-round knockout in New York. However, he turned up unfit and unprepared for the rematch six months later in Saudi Arabia and gave them all back after 12 one-sided rounds.

Since then 'The Destroyer' has only fought three times in seven years.

30-years-old from Poland, the 6ft 7in Knyba has fought all 18 bouts within the last five years.

His size and reach will certainly cause problems for smaller Mexican-American, who stands at 6ft 2in. Ruiz's last three fights have included two 12-round unanimous decision wins against Chris Arreola and Luis Ortiz, both boxers past their mid-40s. His very last outing came against grug cheat Jarrell Miller two years ago in August 2024, which ended in a stalemate.

The former world champion has admitted to weighing over 300lbs before his training camps have commenced. Despite boxing since the age of six, his professionalism and dedication has constantly been brought into question.

According to Tyson Fury and Frank Warren, Ruiz Jr. priced himself out of a fight with 'The Gypsy King', demanding too much money.

Aged 36, time is running out for 'The Destroyer' to get back into title contention, however, with all the belts now changing hands, it's an opportune time for him get himself into the mix.

Who is Damian Knyba?

Damian Knyba was born 25 January 1996 in Bydgoszcz, Poland.

Knyba had an amateur record of 23 wins and 7 losses. He won the Polish Youth Championship in 2019 and the Polish Senior Championship in 2020.

His boxing alias is 'Polish Hussar'.

Knyba made his professional boxing debut on 26 June 2021 in Człopa where he stopped Petr Frohlich in the second round.

Damian is currently signed with Bob Arum's Top Rank.

On 10 December 2022, Knyba fought Puerto Rican boxer Emilio Salas at Madison Square Garden on the undercard of Teofimo Lopez vs Sandor Martin, winning by technical knockout in the second round.

His sole defeat came at the hands of now-WBC World heavyweight champion Agit Kabayel when they clashed for the WBC Interim heavyweight title in his last fight in January 2026.

Damian Knyba vs Agit Kabayel

On 4 November 2025, it was announced that Knyba would take on the undefeated Agit Kabayel for his WBC Interim Heavyweight Championship on 10 January 2026 in Oberhausen, Germany.

Knyba suffered his first defeat by a controversial third-round TKO.

The first round was very successful for Knyba, who scored several hard shots to Kabayel's face, opening a cut over the right eye. However, Kabayel retook control in the second round, upping the pace and landing his own power shots in return. By the third round, Knyba was still trying to match Kabayel's pace but continued to receive more and more punishment, eventually suffering several clean shots that prompted the referee to intervene. However, many observers, including Knyba, considered the stoppage premature, as Knyba was still fighting back and attempting to defend.

His entrance made headlines as he walked out dressed as a Polish hussar along with knights. He walked out to the Polish celebratory anthem, Rota, which is known to be an anti-German song written in protest of the German Empire's forced policies of Germanization of Poles in the earlier 20th century. Whilst walking out, Polish fans in attendance sang along.