Damian Knyba (born 25 January 1996) is a Polish professional boxer. He challenged once for World Boxing Council (WBC) interim heavyweight title in January 2026. He is currently signed with Top Rank. He holds a notable win over former unified heavyweight world champion Andy Ruiz.
Amateur career 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.
Professional career Knyba made his professional boxing debut on 26 June 2021 in Człopa where he stopped Petr Frohlich in the second round. 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.
Knyba vs. Kabayel On 4 November 2025, it was announced that Knyba would take on Agit Kabayel (26–0, 19 KOs) for his WBC interim heavyweight title 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.
Knyba vs. Ruiz Jr. On 4 September 2026, Knyba fought former unified heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz Jr. (35–2–1, 22 KOs) at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Knyba dominated the fight, relying on his jab and keeping the distance, and scored a knockdown in the seventh round. He won the fight by unanimous decision, with the judges' scorecards reading 117–110 and 114–113 (x2).
Professional boxing record
ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes19Win18–1Andy Ruiz Jr.UD124 Sep 202618Loss17–1Agit KabayelTKO3 (12), 10 Jan 202617Win17–0Joey DawejkoTKO7 (8), 18 Oct 202516Win16–0Marcin Siwy8 (10). 21 Jun 202515Win15–0Andrzej WawrzykTKO3 (10), 1 Feb 202514Win14–0Richard LarteyKO3 (8), 2 Nov 202413Win13–0Michael Polite CoffeeUD89 Dec 202312Win12–0Helaman OlguinUD810 Jun 202311Win11–0Curtis HarperTKO8 (8), 8 Apr 202310Win10–0Emilio SalasTKO2 (6), 10 Dec 20229Win9–0Kostiantyn DovbyshchenkoUD88 Oct 20228Win8–0Santander Silgado GelezTKO1 (6), 13 Aug 20227Win7–0Terrell Jamal WoodsUD621 May 20226Win6–0Knife DidierKO1 (8), 4 Mar 20225Win5–0Aazddin AajourKO1 (6), 7 Jan 20224Win4–0Yury BykhautsouUD623 Oct 20213Win3–0Giorgi Tamazashvili1 (4), 28 Aug 20212Win2–0Igor Pylypenko417 Jul 20211Win1–0Petr Frohlich2 (4), 26 Jun 2021
References
External links https://boxrec.com/en/box-pro/920728