Posted on 03/08/2024
By: Sean Crose
Less than six months earlier, UFC star Francis Ngannou had done battle with heavyweight kingpin Tyson Fury. The boxing novice shocked the world that night. While he ultimately lost the fight to Fury on the cards, Ngannou managed to drop Fury in the third round and went on to almost beat the colorful titlist. Now, in just his second professional boxing match, Ngannou entered a ring in Saudi Arabia to take on former heavyweight multi-titlist Anthony Joshua. Ngannou may have wanted to shock the world but Joshua wanted to regain past glory – and he had to get past Ngannou in order to do that.
Ngannou looked sharp in the first – until he was sent to the mat by a blistering Joshua right. Ngannou beat the count and survived the round, but it was clear that Joshua could do real damage. And real damage Joshua continued to do in the second, dropping Ngannou again. Once more, Ngannou got to his feet, but perhaps he shouldn’t have, for Joshua put the man down and completely out moments later. The referee didn’t even bother to count, opting instead to stop the fight immediately for Ngannou’s well being.
Indeed, seeing Ngannou sprawled out on the mat minutes after the fight had ended was a worrying thing. Fortunately the man was no worse for wear when he finally got back to his feet. Joshua was ready to give his vanquished opponent kind words. “I told him he shouldn’t leave boxing,” Joshua said. “Remember he’s two fights in and he’s fought the best.” As for the future, Joshua stated he wanted the winner of this spring’s Tyson Fury-Oleksander Usyk battle. “I just want to fight,” he said.