Francis Ngannou dusted himself off to attend last night’s post-fight press conference after his second-round knockout loss to Anthony Joshua.
The Cameroonian UFC star was down three times in all, against a rampant Joshua, who lined Ngannou up for several chilling right hands before emphatically closing the show.
Sportingly, Ngannou said: “I was just on my way, climbing up [the boxing ladder], until I got stopped by AJ. Congratulations, by the way. That was a clean one.”
He and Joshua sat side-by-side talking to the media. Last October, Ngannou dropped Tyson Fury and took him to the wire in a 10-rounder, but there were no such heroics last night as Joshua laid him out in spectacular fashion.
“He was quite special because he stopped me,” admitted Ngannou. “He did what Tyson Fury couldn’t do, it wasn’t my day, he’s just way better than me today. It’s an aspect of the game, we know that.”
Joshua implored Ngannou to carry in boxing, although Ngannou hinted that there may be a return to MMA. Asked about the final shot that ended his hopes in the Kingdom Arena in Saudi Arabia last night, Ngannou said: “I didn’t feel the punch, I think that’s what the knockout is about. I don’t feel any pain. That’s how I know I was knocked out.”
While the fight was not seen as a 50-50 beforehand, given Joshua’s boxing pedigree, the fact Ngannou had been so competitive against Fury had plenty believing he could pose a real threat to the Londoner.
It was not to be, though that does not mean Ngannou is through with boxing.
“Right now, I think I’m going to go home, get some rest, process what happened,” added Ngannou. “This has been a hell of a day, since this morning, I’ll process it and see what is the next step. Maybe MMA, but you can be sure that I am not done here. I’m not done.”