This time, there was no photo. After making Tyson Fury falter, MMA star Francis Ngannou was largely outclassed by heavyweight Anthony Joshua who only needed two rounds to knock him out, on the night of Friday to Saturday in Riyadh.
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Former UFC heavyweight champion, Ngannou, 37, only contested the second boxing match English of his career, after a first defeat against Tyson Fury in the fall.
Sent to the mat in the first round with a powerful straight right hit in the jaw, the Cameroonian, a ring novice, was unable to do anything against a brutal and surgical Joshua and suffered two other knockdowns in the second round. The third was too many and Ngannou then remained on the ground, leading the referee to stop the hostilities.
Star of MMA, Ngannou came very close to the feat for his debut in English boxing on October 29 by sending Tyson Fury, WBC heavyweight champion and huge favorite, to the mat in the third round and shaking up the “Gipsy King” like never before. Even though he lost to a split – and controversial – decision by the judges, he won the respect of the combat sports world. Unrecognizable and apparently out of shape, Tyson Fury had undoubtedly underestimated Ngannou four months ago, but this time, Anthony Joshua was warned and had obviously not taken his opponent lightly.
Return to MMA for Ngannou
With this fourth consecutive victory, the 34-year-old Briton puts himself back in the hierarchy of the heavyweight category and declared his intention to face for his next fight the winner of the clash between Tyson Fury and Oleksander Usyk who face each other in May for the unified heavyweight title. Ngannou, meanwhile, has already planned to return to the MMA cages with a fight scheduled for 2024 against PFL champion Renan Ferreira.
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