Nigerian fans celebrated on Friday as Anthony Joshua, a British-Nigerian professional boxer, knocked out former UFC champion Francis Ngannou in the second round of a heavyweight bout in Saudi Arabia. The thrilling victory was a source of pride for the Nigerian people, who saw one of their own achieve a major accomplishment on the global stage.
Joshua, in a stunning display of power and skill, knocked down Ngannou in the first round with a right hand. He repeated the feat in the second round, this time delivering a knockout punch that ended the fight at the 2:38 mark. Joshua’s victory sets him up for a potential title shot against the winner of the upcoming bout between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk.
Despite being able to get back to his feet after the second knockdown, Ngannou was unable to withstand the force of Joshua’s next punch. A right cross landed squarely on Ngannou’s chin, and he was knocked out cold. Ngannou remained down for more than a minute, and oxygen was administered to him by the ringside medical team.
This was a crushing loss for Ngannou, who had been widely seen as a rising star in the heavyweight division after a strong showing against Tyson Fury and a close loss to a top contender. But Joshua, revitalized under his new coach Ben Davison, proved too much for Ngannou, dominating the fight from the opening bell. With the victory, Joshua has established himself as a top contender once again, and he looks poised to challenge for the world title in the near future.
Titled ‘Knockout Chaos,’ this fight night was yet another successful event organized by Turki Al-Sheikh in Saudi Arabia. Joshua has found new success since his back-to-back losses to Usyk, winning four fights in a row, three of which were knockouts.