Joshua vs Ngannou LIVE: Boxing result, highlights and fight reaction after crushing knockout last night
Follow the latest reaction and news after Anthony Joshua’s thrilling display against ex-UFC champion Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia
Anthony Joshua produced one of the finest performances of his career in a devastating knockout of Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia.
Joshua, a former two-time unified heavyweight champion, took a step closer to a blockbuster undisputed fight against Tyson Fury with a superior performance to his rival, who was made to work by the Cameroonian on his debut last October.
• Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk: Date, UK start time, undercard and how to watch fight
Joshua dropped the former UFC champion twice before a crushing third knockdown pinned Ngannou to the canvas in an emphatic stoppage. Afterwards Ngannou hailed Joshua’s knockout power.
The 34-year-old confirmed he is now in line to face the winner of Fury against Oleksandr Usyk, who beat ‘AJ’ twice previously. Follow the latest reaction and relive all the action from Knockout Chaos below:
Joshua vs Ngannou LIVE: Main card imminent
Here’s how the main card looks:
Anthony Joshua vs Francis Ngannou (heavyweight)
Zhilei Zhang (C) vs Joseph Parker (WBO interim heavyweight title)
Rey Vargas (C) vs Nick Ball (WBC featherweight title)
Israel Madrimov vs Magomed Kurbanov (vacant WBA super-welterweight title)
Gavin Gwynne vs Mark Chamberlain (lightweight)
Justis Huni vs Kevin Lerena (heavyweight)
Joshua vs Ngannou undercard line-up: Who else is fighting?
Conor Benn provides Manny Pacquiao fight update after face-off in Saudi Arabia
Conor Benn provides Manny Pacquiao fight update after face-off in Saudi Arabia
Joshua vs Ngannou LIVE: Roman Fury vs Martin Svarc
Round two
Svarc with a solid left hook early in this round – the second of four frames in this fight.
Tyson and Tommy, Roman’s brothers, are watching from the front row. The Briton lands a well-timed counter left hook!
Fury rolls under a right hook and clinches Svarc. Decent step-in jab by Svarc, but he’s countered with a clean southpaw cross.
A scrappy exchange ensues late in the round.
How ‘Big Bang’ Zhang can steal Joshua and Ngannou’s thunder
In September 2022, Joseph Parker saw his best-laid plans torn asunder by a relentless onslaught from Joe Joyce. Then, twice in 2023, Joyce saw his best-laid plans ripped to tatters by the unforgiving hands of Zhilei Zhang. On Friday, Parker will hope it is his turn to triumph in this violent trinity, as he and Zhang meet in a tantalising bout on the Joshua vs Ngannou undercard.
When Parker and Joyce met in Manchester, the New Zealander’s career resurrection was seemingly left in ruins, as Joyce walked through every barrage that Parker could muster and outgunned the tourist with heavier artillery. After Parker’s back-to-back defeats by Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte in 2018 – his first two losses as a professional – he had managed a streak of six straight wins, only for the “Juggernaut” to halt his momentum and dismiss his potential of becoming a world champion again. So it seemed, at least.
How ‘Big Bang’ Zhang can steal Joshua and Ngannou’s thunder
Anthony Joshua’s coach Ben Davison highlights undervalued strength ahead of Francis Ngannou fight
Ben Davison has highlighted an area of Anthony Joshua’s game that he believes is undervalued, as the pair prepare for Friday’s bout against Francis Ngannou.
Joshua, a former two-time unified heavyweight champion, will box ex-UFC champion Ngannou in Saudi Arabia, where the latter almost beat Tyson Fury in October.
Ngannou, a notorious power-puncher, floored Fury before losing a controversial decision in his boxing debut. Some fans believe that Joshua will be more vulnerable to the Cameroonian’s knockout threat than the unbeaten Fury was, yet Davison believes that “AJ”’s defence is underrated.
Anthony Joshua’s coach highlights undervalued strength ahead of Francis Ngannou fight
Why fear will settle Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou’s dangerous fight
It is remarkable how quickly perceptions can change in fight sports. Before Francis Ngannou’s carnivalesque contest against Tyson Fury in October, as it was framed, there was no real question of whether the ex-UFC champion could succeed; it was a thought that very few pundits bothered to entertain, and understandably so. Here was a total boxing novice, with not even an amateur bout to his name, taking on the unbeaten WBC heavyweight champion of the world in the boxer’s preferred discipline.
Yet when Ngannou sent Fury cascading in the third round, clipping the Briton with a hook to the top of the dome before standing over him in a fit of laughter, perceptions shifted in a matter of milliseconds. The look of sheer shock on Fury’s face was mirrored by the thousands watching at home and the hundreds ringside in Riyadh. Ngannou, ultimately, was denied an inconceivable victory on the disputable scorecards, but the Cameroonian left Saudi Arabia having secured a moral triumph from the moment that Fury’s 6ft 7in frame connected with the canvas in the Kingdom Arena.
Why fear will settle Joshua and Ngannou’s dangerous fight
Francis Ngannou 20lbs heavier than Anthony Joshua at weigh-in for Saudi fight
Francis Ngannou was 20.2lbs heavier than Anthony Joshua at Thursday’s weigh-in for their boxing match in Saudi Arabia.
Joshua, a former two-time unified heavyweight champion, will fight the ex-UFC champion in Riyadh on Friday (8 March).
Ahead of their 10-round professional contest, “AJ” and the “Predator” hit the scales and came face to face for the final time before Friday’s first bell. Ngannou weighed in first, coming in at 272.6lbs – 0.4lbs heavier than he was in his boxing debut against Tyson Fury in October. Joshua followed at 252.4lbs – 1.4lbs heavier than he was against Otto Wallin in December.
Francis Ngannou 20lbs heavier than Anthony Joshua at weigh-in for Saudi fight
Joshua vs Ngannou weigh in
At yesterday’s weigh in Francis Ngannou tipped the scales at 272.6lbs – ever so slightly heavier than he was when he fought Fury.
Anthony Joshua came in at 252.4lbs – slightly heavier than he was against Wallin. Ngannou is 20.2lbs heavier than Joshua but both men look in exceptional shape.
This should be a good fight.
Anthony Joshua faces Francis Ngannou jeopardy – but holds key advantage over Tyson Fury
The fun carnival of boxing in Saudi Arabia ended in the third round last October when Francis Ngannou sent Tyson Fury sprawling to the canvas.
The fun was finished in that shocking moment; boxing is not football, snooker, darts, tennis, Formula One or golf – boxing is far more dangerous, and the very best plans, schemes and bank vaults are useless against a well-placed left hook. One punch, less than a second in time, and the schedule gets ripped up.
Big Francis, the reigning UFC heavyweight champion before he left the promotion to begin a boxing career, dropped Fury and that led to Fury pulling out of the “Fight of the Century” against Oleksandr Uysk, which was planned for December. That, in turn, led to Deontay Wilder fighting that night and losing to Joseph Parker; that led to Wilder not fighting Anthony Joshua and, instead, Joshua fighting Ngannou on Friday in Riyadh. It was just one solitary left hook.
Joshua faces Ngannou jeopardy – but holds key advantage over Fury
Full card (subject to change)
Anthony Joshua vs Francis Ngannou (heavyweight)
Zhilei Zhang (C) vs Joseph Parker (WBO interim heavyweight title)
Rey Vargas (C) vs Nick Ball (WBC featherweight title)
Israel Madrimov vs Magomed Kurbanov (vacant WBA super-welterweight title)
Gavin Gwynne vs Mark Chamberlain (lightweight)
Justis Huni vs Kevin Lerena (heavyweight)
Jack McGann vs Louis Greene (super-welterweight)
Roman Fury vs Martin Svarc (cruiserheavyweightweight)
Ziyad Almaayouf vs Christian Lopez Flores (super-lightweight)
Andrii Novytskyi vs Juan Torres (heavyweight)
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