THE RESULT: A brutal end to a foolish struggle, Anthony Joshua ended the boxing ambition of Francis Ngannou on the two minute and 38-second mark of spherical two. The end was delivered by an enormous proper hand which left Ngannou, knocked down twice already, out chilly on the ring canvas.
KEY MOMENTS: Regardless of a optimistic begin within the struggle, Ngannou switched to southpaw midway by means of spherical one and located himself nailed by a ravishing and completely executed proper cross thrown by Joshua. This shot put Ngannou on the deck for the primary time in his skilled profession and the second and third knockdowns have been to comply with in spherical two. Each of these knockdowns have been equally spectacular, with the second of them, the final, pretty much as good a shot as Joshua has ever thrown as a professional.
Ngannou is left on the canvas following a Joshua proper hand (Mark Robinson Matchroom Boxing)
RECORDS: Joshua strikes his professional report to 28-3 (25), whereas Ngannou, 37, nonetheless seems to be for his first professional win, along with his report now standing at 0-2 (0).
TALKING POINT: Whereas Joshua ought to obtain credit score for doing what he was anticipated to do to Ngannou, and doing one thing Tyson Fury was unable to do in October, this consequence should nonetheless include an asterisk. Ngannou, in spite of everything, is a fighter with no skilled boxing win to his identify and confirmed no indicators tonight of that altering anytime quickly; notably if he continues to struggle world-class heavyweights. “Don’t go away boxing,” Joshua stated to Ngannou within the ring after the struggle, however this struggle, and Joshua’s proper hand, might have been the fact test required to maintain Ngannou in blended martial arts or a minimum of, if eager to field, persuade him to drop down a degree or two.
QUOTABLE: “On the path to the championship, you must at all times keep centered,” Joshua stated after the struggle. “This was me stepping apart on that mission. However once I noticed the struggle with him (Ngannou) and Tyson Fury, I used to be like, ‘Rattling, this man can struggle!’ I used to be like, ‘I want a chunk of that!’ He’s an inspiration. We broke bread collectively and he’s an important champion. This doesn’t take something away from his capabilities. He can come once more. Keep in mind, he’s two fights in and he’s fought the perfect. He can go a good distance if he stays devoted. But it surely’s as much as him.”
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT: Requested if his subsequent struggle goes to be towards the winner of Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk, Joshua smiled and stated, “Sure, it’s.”
