WHAAAT JOSHUA KILLS NGANNOU!
#JoshuaNgannou pic.twitter.com/yMqpWRkoG0— TakeruCigarra (@TakeruCigarra)
March 9, 2024
Anthony
Joshua reminded the masses that it only takes one shot at the
heavyweight division.
To headline the all-day boxing showcase in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,
Anthony
Joshua represented the sweet science against the marauding
Francis
Ngannou. The former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight king
acquitted himself extremely well in his pro boxing debut against
Tyson
Fury in 2023, but the same could not be said when he took on
“AJ.” Joshua wasted little time putting the dangerous Ngannou on
ice, dropping the MMA fighter twice before completely flattening
him with a right hand in the second round.
Joshua (28-3, 25 KOs) only needed to score five power punches,
according to Compubox numbers, to record three knockdowns in their
heavyweight main attraction. Ngannou (0-2, 0 KOs) kept things close
to start, jabbing the head and body early on while threatening with
his ferocious left hand. The Brit retaliated by splitting the guard
with a sharp right that sent “The Predator” crashing to the canvas.
Ngannou used the entire count and rode out the remainder of the
round while keeping Joshua at bay from finishing the job then and
there.
While he had hit the floor once in the opening frame, Ngannou
appeared to have recovered going into the second stanza. The former
UFC king reached his foe several times, but Joshua was on a
mission. “AJ” parried a few jabs and unloaded a right hand,
stunning and ultimately knocking his Cameroonian counterpart to the
mat for the second time. Ngannou shook his head and worked his way
back upright, but his expression had changed. Joshua had his
number. A few seconds later, Joshua wound up with a monstrous right
hand, and Ngannou walked right into it. The event title “Knockout
Chaos” proved prophetic, as Ngannou was unconscious before his head
hit the ground. Referee Ricky Gonzalez broke off the count to wave
off the match at 2:38 of Round 2, with Joshua leaving his opponent
asking what happened after coming to.
Joshua picked up his 25th knockout as a pro by depriving Ngannou of
his consciousness, and he called for a fight against Fury, despite
Fury’s already busy dance card with Oleksandr Usyk.
Earlier on the main card, Joseph Parker (35-3, 23 KOs) fought
through two knockdowns en route to an otherwise pedestrian majority
decision (113-113, 114-112, 115-111) over Zhilei Zhang (26-2-1, 21
KOs) to claim the interim WBO heavyweight strap; Rey Vargas
(36-1-1, 22 KOs) survived two knockdowns and retained his WBC
featherweight crown by taking Nick Ball (19-0-1, 11 KOs) to a
questionable split draw with scores of 114-112, 110-116 and
113-113; Israil Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KOs) handed Magomed Kurbanov
(25-1, 13 KOs) his first career defeat by forcing a standing TKO in
the fifth round at 2:20, with Madrimov claiming the vacant WBA
super welterweight belt; Mark Chamberlain (15-0, 11 KOs) ran
roughshod over Gavin Gwynne (17-3-1, 5 KOs) until he put the fellow
lightweight away with a seemingly never-ending salvo of body shots
at 2:46 of Round 4; Justis Huni (9-0, 4 KOs) endured a late surge
from Kevin Lerena (30-3, 14 KOs) to remain unbeaten after 10 rounds
of heavyweight action, with two 96-94 scores and one at 98-92 all
in his favor.
In preliminary action, Louis Greene (17-4, 11 KOs) put a stamp on
Jack McGann (9-1-1, 6 KOs) with a blistering right hand 89 seconds
into their super welterweight pairing; Roman Fury (4-0, 1 KO),
younger brother of boxing great Tyson Fury, outpointed Martin Svarc
(2-1, 1 KO) in their four-round heavyweight contest with a trio of
39-37 tallies; Ziyad Almaayouf (5-0, 1 KO) picked up a six-round
decision against super lightweight foe Christian Lopez Flores
(14-36-2, 12 KOs) with three matching 60-54 scores; the night began
with heavyweight Andrii Novytskyi (10-0, 9 KOs) putting Juan Torres
(11-6-1, 4 KOs) away in the third round with a barrage at the 2:43
mark.