Spokane’s Chauncy Welliver says ‘hooray for the fat guys’ after Andy Ruiz’s upset heavyweight victory

Score one for the rotund.

Andy Ruiz’s world heavyweight championship upset of Anthony Joshua was about as big as the Californian’s waistband.

The chubby, smooth-swinging Ruiz landed a flurry of punches onto the statuesque Joshua in the seventh round Saturday at Madison Square Garden, resulting in a TKO and one of the sport’s most unexpected triumphs.

Ruiz was widely expected to get handled by Joshua, who Spokane boxer Chauncy Welliver recently dubbed the greatest heavyweight of all-time.

But Joshua, who was 22-0 with 21 knockouts including a win over Wladimir Klitschko, lost to a fighter built like the self-deprecating Welliver.

Welliver, often known as the Hillyard Hammer, was admittedly one of the flabbiest, harder-hitting heavyweights in the world at the height of his career; briefly ranked in the top 5 by the WBC.

Since Saturday’s upset, Welliver’s phone has been inundated with text messages comparing the plus-sized fighters.

A Facebook thread among fighters around the country discussing the Ruiz win even name-dropped Welliver.

“Chauncy Welliver was obscenely fat in his heyday and had a better gas tank than everyone in the current heavyweight picture,” posted Justin Novaria, a fighter from Ohio.

Ruiz, 29, weighed in at 268 pounds before Saturday’s bout, substantially lighter than the 36-year-old Welliver, who weighed north of 300. Both men are 6-foot-2.

Neither had chiseled arms and six-pack abs, though, often leading to their tight-bodied competition looking past them.

Ruiz (33-1) was also a fill-in for the championship match after Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller (23-0-1) failed a series of doping tests.

“Anthony Joshua looked across the ring and saw a guy he thought he could beat,” said Welliver, who owns Boxfit, a boxing club in Hillyard.

“He took him too lightly. Probably thought he was out of shape by the looks of him, but he was in shape.”

“Ruiz is a good, underrated fighter. I didn’t have the kind of power he does.”

Fat serves as good padding, Welliver joked.

“A guy like Joshua has a lot of muscle, and when you hit muscle, it hurts more,” Welliver said. “And when Joshua is hitting on Ruiz, he was hitting on fat.”

Welliver, who has a career record of 55-12-5, knows what it’s like to be overlooked due to his appearance.

In 2002, Welliver faced Nigeria’s King Ipitam at the Coeur d’Alene Casino, a speedy, muscle-bound and experienced fighter who was expected to destroy the 19-year-old Spokane kid.

“My dad, my family, everyone thought I was going to lose,” Welliver said. “It was like they were going to my funeral.”

He went on to beat Ipitam in a split decision.

“It goes to show you what’s great about boxing and MMA,” he said. “You don’t have to be a physical specimen like people think.”

His recent trainer, retired great Joe Hipp, knows that more than anyone.

Hipp, a Yakima native with a 43-7 career record, was one of the best soft-bodied heavyweights to fight at the highest level. He fought Bruce Seldon for the WBA Heavyweight title in 1995 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas but lost when the fight was called in the 10th round.

Welliver and Hipp were happy for Ruiz’s triumph.

“Hooray for the fat guys,” Welliver said.