ANTHONY JOSHUA CRUISED to a second-round knockout win against Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia in what was just the former UFC champion’s second professional boxing match.
Joshua floored his opponent in the first round with a right hand to the chin then again early in the second with a right-left hook combination.
Ngannou got to his feet but was quickly knocked out cold by a rocket of a right hand which put a stop to the contest.
The moment that @anthonyjoshua DESTROYED Francis Ngannou 🤯#JoshuaNgannou | #KnockoutChaos | #RiyadhSeason pic.twitter.com/ONl1rlhSlo
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) March 9, 2024
The 37-year-old, who performed well in losing narrowly on points to WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury in what had been his only previous fight, started brightly again in Riyadh, holding his own well for much of the first round.
He was put on the canvas by Joshua with about a minute to go in the round, beating the count at nine and making it back to his feet to see out the final 40 seconds.
However, when he was knocked down again in the second round there appeared to be little chance of Ngannou continuing, and after struggling back up he was quickly knocked out by an almost nonchalant Joshua, who enjoyed a short night’s work.
This ringside angle of @anthonyjoshua's finish is SAVAGE ☠️#JoshuaNgannou | #KnockoutChaos | #RiyadhSeason pic.twitter.com/YJYV8hPmmD
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) March 9, 2024
Ngannou required oxygen in the ring as he was attended to by medics in the immediate aftermath, before recovering to leave the ring unaided.
For Joshua it is now four wins in a row as he put himself in prime position to meet the winner of the 18 May fight between Fury and Oleksandr Usyk, the latter of whom has beaten him twice.
In the chief support bout, New Zealand’s Joseph Parker won the battle of two other heavyweight contenders as he earned a deserved majority decision over China’s Zhilei Zhang.
Parker, who is trained by Limerick’s former middleweight world champion Andy Lee and dominated Deontay Wilder on his last outing, was forced to pick himself off the canvas twice but otherwise out-boxed the Beijing Olympics silver medallist to take the verdict on scores of 115-111, 114-112 and 113-113.
