Francis Ngannou shocked the world last year when he came close to beating boxing heavyweight champion Tyson Fury in the ring, but he was unable to repeat that feat in his return to the ring yesterday against former unified champion Anthony Joshua.
And it didn’t take long for things to start going wrong for the former UFC heavyweight champion as Joshua was able to floor him with a straight right down the pipe just two minutes into the opening round of the fight in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia.
The 37-year-old was able to get back up and then managed to survive until the bell, but the signs were now looking ominous for ‘The Predator’ in just his second-ever boxing bout.
Two minutes into the second round Ngannou found himself back on the mat again after he stepped into a jab and was greeted by a right hand.
Again Ngannou rose back up, but now Joshua was eager to seal the deal and rushed in with an overhand right that knocked Ngannou out cold at 2.38mins of the 2nd round.
And with that Ngannou’s fairytale start to his boxing career came to an abrupt halt, and it’s hard to be surprised by that given that he’s just gone up against two champion-calibre opponents in his first two pro-bouts.
“I told him not to leave boxing. He’s two fights in and he’s fought the best,” as Joshua put it post-fight.
Despite his tough loss Ngannou did attend the post-fight press conference and appeared to be in good spirits, all things considered and even managed to joke about the fight-ending knockout blow.
“I didn’t feel the punch,” Ngannou responded with a chuckle when asked by a reporter if that’s the hardest he’d ever been hit. “I think that’s what the knockout is about.
“I didn’t feel any pain. That’s how I know I was knocked out.”
Jokes aside, Ngannou acknowledged his disappointment at losing, but gave his opponent the respect he’s due for finishing him in a convincing manner.
“He was quite special because he stopped me,” Ngannou said of Joshua. “He did what Tyson Fury couldn’t do. It wasn’t my day. He’s just way better than me today. It sucks, but it is the game. We all know that.”
As for what comes next, understandably Ngannou wants time out before deciding, but it does sound like both MMA and boxing are still in his plans.
“As of right now, I’m going to go home, get some rest, process what just happened,” Ngannou said. “You know, this has been a hell of a day since this morning. I’ll process it and see what is the next step. But maybe MMA, but you can be sure that I’m not done here. Absolutely not. I’m not done.”
If he does return to MMA then it’s already pretty much set that he would fight PFL’s 2023 heavyweight champion Renan Ferreira, who defeated Ryan Bader at the promotion’s PFL vs Bellator: Champions event recently.
Given that his focus has been on boxing recently and the fact that he’s just suffered a nasty knockout loss it’s unlikely that fight will be on the horizon any time soon though.
Check out highlights from last night’s boxing match below.
