Anthony Joshua has submitted this year’s early knockout candidate.
In what you might call “unbelievable,” Friday night’s bout pitted former unified heavyweight champion Joshua against former UFC heavyweight titleholder Francis Ngannou. Francis Ngannou competes in mixed martial arts and specializes in a completely different discipline.
Joshua convincingly knocked down Ngannou, who had been knocked down twice before, in the second round of their heavyweight bout in Saudi Arabia.
Ngannou was the popular underdog heading into the bout with Joshua after a controversial split decision to WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury in October, with the former UFC star dropping Fury in the bout and losing by a narrow margin.
Ngannou generated a lot of excitement before his fight with Joshua, but that excitement was dashed by the Londoner’s right hand, dropping Ngannou three times in the fight and winning with an explosive second-round knockout.
Joshua first knocked Ngannou down with a straight right toward the end of the first round.
He had tactically set up Ngannou with a basic left jab to the body and a collection of feints to elicit a reaction from his opponent, and he did that on every turn.
The process ended in a knockdown from Joshua, from which Ngannou seemingly never fully recovered.
Ngannou was dropped again in the second round by Joshua, this time with an overhand right.
This happened after Joshua peppered Ngannou with jabs to the body before changing levels and scoring a knockdown.
Seconds after Ngannou stood up for the second time, Joshua decisively ended the fight with another overhand right.
Joshua made one more feint before the final blow to elicit further reaction from Ngannou, but the Cameroonian fighter refused to muster any defense, prompting the Brit to punch home.
Joshua, the consensus No. 3 heavyweight in boxing, improved his record to 28-3 with 25 KOs with the victory, dropping Ngannou to 0-2 as a boxer.
Ngannou is scheduled to return to MMA in PFL later this year.
