In a stunning turn of events, Anthony Joshua delivered a dominant performance against Francis Ngannou, knocking him out in the second round of their highly anticipated bout in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on March 8, 2024. The former unified heavyweight champion proved to be too much of a challenge for Ngannou, who previously faced Tyson Fury in his professional boxing debut.
Ngannou, known to MMA fans as “The Predator,” has proven to be that rare figure able to almost will his dreams into existence. Just a few years ago, the idea of a UFC heavyweight champ vs. a boxing heavyweight champ seemed like a distant dream. But Ngannou, after vacating his UFC title and signing with PFL, landed the Fury fight, even knocking the heavyweight champ down in the bout.
However, this time, he wouldn't have the same success.
The Knockout Chaos card could be viewed via either DAZN (with subscription) or PPV.com on Friday, March 8, 2024 with the event taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The undercard got underway at 11AM ET.
Here's how the entire card unfolded in Saudi Arabia:
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The Knockout
Although he was putting together a strong first round, Joshua knocked him down and Ngannou seemingly couldn't recover. AJ knocks down Ngannou two minutes into the fight with a big right hand!
Joshua dominated the bout, knocking down Ngannou after Ngannou switched to southpaw in the last minute of the 1st round, with a straight right hand (a punch often dubbed as the 'southpaw killer'). Ngannou beat the count and reverted to orthodox but was floored again in the 2nd.
The former boxing heavyweight champion produced another knockdown in Round 2, an equilibrium shot that connected on Ngannou's left ear. Moments after Ngannou rose from the second knockdown, Joshua planted him on the canvas for good with a perfectly placed straight right that landed flush.
Ngannou's leg bent awkwardly under him as all 272½ pounds of the MMA fighter fell to the canvas in a heap.
IT'S ALL OVER. ANTHONY JOSHUA JUST KNOCKED OUT FRANCIS NGANNOU COLD! WOW.
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Following the knockout, Joshua was overheard telling a dazed Ngannou, "Don't leave boxing, don't do it." Despite the loss, Ngannou later confirmed that he will continue boxing.
KNOCKOUT CHAOS | Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou Fight Highlights
Fight Statistics
Ngannou, 0-2 in boxing, made his debut in the ring against heavyweight lineal champion Tyson Fury and lost a split decision, even dropping Fury with a left hook in Round 3. He had no such luck Friday in Riyadh. He was knocked down once in the first round and twice in the second, likely ending the Cameroonian's short-lived boxing career.
Joshua (28-3, 25 KOs) defeated Wladimir Klitschko in April 2017 to win the IBF and WBA heavyweight titles. Joshua added the WBO belt by defeating Joseph Parker a year later but then lost the titles to Andy Ruiz Jr. in June 2019. He regained them in the rematch six months later and made one defense before losing back-to-back fights to Oleksandr Usyk.
Undercard Highlights
Before the main event, Parker overcame two knockdowns to defeat Zhilei Zhang and win the WBO interim heavyweight title.
In a slog of a co-main event, Zhilei Zhang scored two knockdowns against Joseph Parker, but it wasn't enough as Parker walked away with a majority decision to claim the WBC interim heavyweight title. Zhang took his foot off the pedal after both knockdowns, which came in rounds 3 and 6, and Parker stayed busy enough for the points win.
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"I feel like we're on the up now, Zhang is a tough man," Parker said in his post-fight interview. "He knocked me down twice. I'm very happy, I'm going to go home and celebrate. Hard work, hard work, hard work. It's an incredible feeling, look where we are. What's next is I'm fighting Zhang again, that's what we're contracted to."
Here's a summary of the main card results:
- Heavyweight: Anthony Joshua def. Francis Ngannou by KO in R2
- Heavyweight: Joseph Parker def. Zhilei Zhang by majority decision (113-113, 114-112, 115-111)
- Featherweight championship: Rey Vargas vs. Nick Ball ends in a split draw (114-112, 110-116, 113-113
- Super welterweight championship: Israil Madrimov def. Magomed Kurbanov by TKO in R5
- Lightweight: Mark Chamberlain def. Gavin Gwynne by TKO in R4
- Heavyweight: Justis Huni def. Kevin Lerena by unanimous decision (96-94, 96-94, 98-92)
And here's a summary of the preliminary card results:
- Super welterweight: Louis Greene def. Jack McGann by TKO at 1:29 of R1
- Heavyweight: Andrii Novytskyi def. Juan Torres by TKO at 2:43 of R1
- Super lightweight: Ziyad Almaayouf def. Christian Lopez Flores by decision (60-54)
- Heavyweight: Roman Fury def. Alexander K.
The Future
Joshua had been expected to face Deontay Wilder, but Wilder lost a unanimous decision to Parker in December, opening the door for Ngannou.
Speaking in the ring after the bout promoter Eddie Hearn said "You’re looking at the number one heavyweight in the world, unquestionably.
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