Anthony Joshua violently KO’s Francis Ngannou after multiple knockdowns
Former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou returned to the boxing ring tonight for his second professional bout opposing former WBA, WBO, IBF, and IBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.
Ngannou, following the first defense of his UFC heavyweight title in January of 2022, decided to vacate his belt in attempt to secure some big boxing fights outside the promotion, where he made his professional debut this past October against WBC and Ring Magazine heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.
After nearly pulling off the upset, clearly winning more rounds than Fury and also securing a knockdown in round three, two of the three judges scored the fight for Fury, resulting in a split decision loss for Ngannou.
Tonight he got a chance to rebound with a win over one of the sports most decorated heavyweights in Anthony Joshua, who’d won three-straight fights since losing his belts to Oleksandr Usyk.
Joshua opened up the bout with jabs to the body and head, Ngannou relying on his left hook frequently throughout the opening round. Ngannou partially landed an overhand right, but was soon after caught with a vicious right hand that floored him about two minutes in.
Ngannou returned to his feet at the count of eight and survived the remainder of round one, where he was again dropped in the second, this time by a left hook at the end of Joshua’s combination. He was a little quicker to his feet this time, but was badly KO’d with a thunderous right cross immediately after the referee restarted the fight.
Anthony Joshua just made Tyson Fury look like a BUM.
AJ dropped Francis in round 1 then SLEPT HIM in round 2.
Meanwhile Tyson Fury GOT dropped by him and some even think Ngannou beat him
AJ vs Fury is one of the BIGGEST fights in boxing#JoshuaNgannoupic.twitter.com/Of5wirjdD0
— Jay 🎋💰🇯🇲 (@TheRealestJayT) March 9, 2024
Official Result: Anthony Joshua def. Francis Ngannou via KO at 2:38 of round two
Francis Ngannou kind of shocked the world with his performance last October, out-boxing the man many believe to be the greatest heavyweight on the planet. This fight was much, much different. Anthony Joshua showed a far higher level of boxing skill tonight and it was clear from the start.
There was always that chance Ngannou could land that one shot, but Joshua didn’t allow it to happen and Ngannou falls to 0-2 as a professional boxer in Saudi Arabia.
On the brighter side, he’s expected to face PFL heavyweight champion later this year in an MMA return.
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