If there was any remaining doubts about Anthony Joshua and his capabilities, the British super star removed them in brief order on Friday. Joshua provided a thunderous knockout of previous UFC heavyweight champ Francis Ngannou in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It took Joshua less than 2 rounds to put away Ngannou and he did so in design with a set of knockdowns before the emphatic last blow.
Joshua, who formerly held 3 of the 4 acknowledged titles in the department, sent out a message that he’s still an elite challenger to Tyson Fury, who was seated ringside for the bout. Fury had a hard time against Ngannou last October, suffering a knockdown before going for a split choice win. Joshua now waits to see how Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk plays out before setting his next strategy. Joshua suffered a set of choice beats to Usyk in 2021 and 2022 to drop his titles.
Ngannou was not spoken with post fight, which has actually ended up being a more typical practice after fighters suffer such a terrible knockout, however he did publish a declaration on social networks quickly after the fight.
“Sorry guys I let you all down,” Ngannou stated. “Today was a bad day in the workplace however tomorrow will be another day. Thank you all for the love.”
Can’t get enough boxing and MMA? Get the current on the planet of battle sports from 2 of the very best in business. Subscribe to Morning Kombat with Luke Thomas and Brian Campbell for the very best analysis and thorough news, consisting of immediate analysis of Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou at the conclusion of the PPV occasion listed below.
Elsewhere on the card, Joseph Parker continued his climb back to heavyweight title contention as he scored a bulk choice over Zhilei Zhang in the co-main occasion. The win protected Parker the WBO interim title and might get hi a chance at Fury or Usyk, though he is a training partner with the “Gypsy King.” Parker made approval in spite of suffering a set of knockdowns in the fight as Zhang was just not active sufficient to win rounds. Plus, Rey Vargas handled to hang on to his WBC featherweight title, however by the slimmest of margins against Nick Ball. The 2 fight to a split draw, indicating the champ might not lose his title.
CBS Sports was with you throughout fight week with the current news, thorough functions and betting recommendations to think about. Thanks for coming by and we’ll see you next time.
Fight card, outcomes
- Anthony Joshua def. Francis Ngannou by means of second-round knockout
- Joseph Parker def. Zhilei Zhang (c) by means of bulk choice (113-113, 114-112, 115-111)
- Rey Vargas (c) vs. Nick Ball ends in a split draw (114-112, 110-115, 113-113) — Vargas keeps
- Israil Madrimov (c) def. Magomed Kubranov by means of fifth-round TKO — uninhabited WBA incredibly welterweight title
- Mark Chamberlain def. Gavin Gwynne by means of fourth-round TKO
