Francis Ngannou apologised to his fanbase after he was sensationally knocked out by Anthony Joshua. On Friday night in Saudi Arabia, Joshua floored Ngannou on two occasions before a powerful right-handed strike sent the former UFC heavyweight champion crashing to the canvas.
When he made his professional boxing debut, Ngannou knocked WBC heavyweight champion Fury to the canvas before controversially losing via split decision in their epic 10-round battle. On this occasion, Joshua bludgeoned the floundering MMA star who was left shell-shocked by the Brit’s explosive performance.
Early into the contest, Ngannou had just narrowly missed with a lead left hand as Joshua remained calm and composed. He landed a clean shot and floored the Cameroonian, accomplishing what Fury failed to do in his own meeting with Ngannou, who rose to his feet at the count of eight.
He survived the first round, but he was not so lucky in the second. Joshua waited for an opening that came when Ngannou failed to block another mega right hand, which sent him to the floor once again. Moments after getting back to his feet, Ngannou was finished by a mammoth strike that knocked him out cold before he hit the canvas.
Once he regained consciousness, Ngannou took to X to post: “Sorry guys I let you all down. Today was a bad day in the office but tomorrow will be another day.
“Thank you all for the love” – with a heart emoji included at the end.
The WBC recently installed Nigannou in their top 10 title contenders, but his performance shrouds his boxing future somewhat. Joshua hopes the 37-year-old keeps fighting, especially after he impressed against Fury.
“When I saw the fight with Tyson Fury I thought ‘I want some of that’,” Joshua said. “[Ngannou] is a great champion and this doesn’t take anything away from his capabilities. “I told him not to leave boxing. He’s two fights in and he’s fought the best.”
Fury even fired a shot at Joshua when comparing the British rivals’ respective performances in wins over Ngannou. After Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, branded his fighter as the best heavyweight in the world, Fury told DAZN: “I’m sure that Oleksandr Usyk will have something to say about that, because he’s only beat him twice a few years ago.
“And me and Usyk have got an undisputed heavyweight championship coming up and he’s just had a show fight in Saudi Arabia, which is fantastic for the show, but for the actual real boxing it’s me and Usyk who fight for the number one and number two positions and the undisputed championship of the world.”
