That’s all for tonight. Thanks as always for following along with us and be sure to read Donald McRae’s full fight report here.
Tyson Fury is given rights to reply on the Dazn telecast on Hearn’s bold claim that Joshua is the best heavyweight on the planet today.
“I’m sure that Oleksandr Usyk will have something to say about that considering he beat him twice in the last, whenever it was few years ago,” Fury says. “Me and Usyk have got the undisputed world championship coming up [on 18 May]. He’s just had a show fight in Saudi Arabia, which is fantastic for the show, but for the actual real boxing, me and Usyk could fight for the No 1 and No 2 position in the undisputed championship of the world.”
Asked whether tonight’s fight made him want a rematch with Ngannou, Fury says he’s just looking forward.
“No, no. Listen, I had a shit performance against Ngannou. It’s no secret. I’ve never said anything different. However, styles make fights and I almost got it right. I predicted one round AJ [before the fight]. So I almost got it right. Listen, he’s done absolutely fantastic tonight. He lit him up with the right hand, which was perfect. I knocked him out. That’s what a boxer should have done to him. That’s what he should have done. So congratulations. Well done. But if he fights me in the future after I’ve dealt with Usyk twice next year, then it’d be a different game.”
He adds: “I think there’s quite a long way to go and for some reason over the last five years there’s always been some shit that gets in the way of [a Fury-Joshua fight]. And this time the shit is undisputed heavyweight championship of the world. So that’s on the back burner for now. Great performance from AJ. Fantastic. But unfortunately I’ve got bigger fish to fry in Usyk on the 18th of May. And then we have a rematch in October. So after that, if he’s still available and I’m still available, let’s get it on.”
Updated
Joshua calls out Fury-Usyk winner
Joshua is initially non-committal over plans for his next fight, saying: “I’ve got to speak with Eddie [Hearn], Matchroom Boxing, 258 Management, Ben Davidson and the team. They’ll shape my future, man. I’m just here to fight. I’m going to go back to my cage, lock myself away, and then I’m going to be let out when it’s time to fight again. So whatever they want me to do, I’m down for whatever.”
But when pressed whether his preferred next opponent is the winner of the 18 May fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk, which will determine the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis in 2000, he is to the point: “Yes it is.”
Enter Eddie Hearn. Joshua’s longtime promoter cuts a passionate promo, setting the very early stage for what could be one the sport’s biggest events in a long time.
“I’m so proud of him because there was a huge amount of pressure tonight,” Hearn says. “People talking about if he was to lose to Francis Ngannou, what would happen? He rolled the dice because of his excellence. He said, if we win this fight, we will fight the winner of Fury against Usyk. OK? There was a show here in October, it was called The Battle of the Baddest to decide the baddest man of the planet. They shouldn’t have done that in October. They should have done it tonight because you’re looking at the baddest man on the planet right there. You’re looking at the number one heavyweight in the world.
“Unquestionably, on this form, there is no man in the world that can beat him in the heavyweight division. I told you he’s going to come back. He’s going to become the undisputed heavyweight world champion. There’s a brilliant fighter down there called Tyson Fury. Please, please beat Oleksandr Usyk on May the 18th, because I promise you this, you’ll get the biggest fight in the history of this sport when Anthony Joshua takes the undisputed world championship.
“Ben [Davidson], Lee [Wylie], the team, but most of all Anthony Joshua, who has always stayed in the gym, always worked, never taken a shortcut in his entire life as a fighter. He’s an inspiration to young people and I promise you he ain’t getting beat. He’s the best heavyweight in the world. That was one of the most destructive knockouts I’ve ever seen. People talk about how Tyson Fury did against Ngannou. Forget about that. What I said would happen happened. He went in there, he destroyed Francis Ngannou. This man is a savage, a beast, the best heavyweight in the world and I cannot wait for him to beat Tyson Fury.”
Joshua has now won four fights on the trot in less than a year following his back-to-back losses to Usyk, after which there were open calls for him to retire. Asked to what he attributes his return to form, he credits his revamped backroom team.
“The Ben Davidson Performance Centre and the Lee Wylie Performance Centre with it as well,” he says. “You know who’s there and I appreciate them highly. Derrick James, Rob McCracken, Angel Fernandez, Joby Clayton, Robert Garcia, Virgil Hunter, all these guys that I worked with and it’s helped me till this day. It has helped me till this day really shaped me and I’m still learning, still pushing. I’m just hungry in it. Stay hungry and all that good stuff.”
Could it be that Joshua could possibly be coming into his peak at 34 years old?
“Listen, this is the thing with boxing. He said, am I coming into my peak? It only takes one shot in heavyweight division. If that was me, you would’ve been saying Joshua should retire. Joshua’s finished. But what I’m trying to say is that you should always keep searching for better. I’ve got to say Joseph Parker is one of my favorite fighters. He had it tough, been relentless, kept on pushing and looking at him now. So for me, I don’t know if I’m coming into my peak, I’m just pushing day by day and whoever knows where it would take me, I’m just doing it while I’m here making the most of it.
“Because imagine in five years I’m not going to be fighting anymore. It’s all going to be said and done and this will all be a distant memory, so I’m just trying to make the most of it.”
“On the route to the championship, you should always stay focused,” Joshua says in his in-ring interview. “And this was me stepping aside from that mission. I thought it was something for the broadcasters and sponsors to kind of get behind. It’s just about entertainment. But when I saw the fight with him and Tyson Fury, I was like, ‘Damn, this guy can fight.’ So I said I need a piece of that, and as I said, he’s an inspiration. So we wanted to welcome him. We broke bread together and he’s a great champion and this doesn’t take away anything of his capabilities because in boxing it’s one or the other. He can come again.
“I told him he shouldn’t leave boxing. He can do well. remember, he’s two fights in and he’s fought the best. He can go a long way if he stays dedicated, but it’s up to him.”
The Compubox punch statistics lend numerical context to the carnage. Joshua landed 12 of 31 punches (29.3%), compared to eight of 42 for Ngannou (19.0%). Notably, Joshua landed five of nine power punches in all (55.6%). He scored knockdowns on three of those, the last of them a knockout.
Joshua knocks out Ngannou in round two!
The fight continues on even terms for two minute until Ngannou goes down with about a minute left in the round, a heavy straight right-left hook combination. And this time the Cameroonian looks in serious trouble. Ngannou somehow makes it to his feet, but Joshua wastes no time: the Briton surges into the pocket and drops him with a heat-seeking overhand right that leaves Ngannous out cold on the canvas. The referee Richard Gonzales immediately waves it off and it’s over! Anthony Joshua has defeated Francis Ngannou with a savage knockout.
Updated
Ngannou down in round one!
Joshua darts in with a jab to the body. Ngannou looking more comfortable than he did in the early stages against Fury. Joshua lands another nice left jab. Joshua blocks a Ngannou right hook upstairs with his glove. Ngannou switches from orthodox to southpaw with about a minute left in the round. What confidence! And just like that, Joshua detonates a massive right hand on Ngannou’s chin and Ngannou is down in a heap! And Ngannou is hurt! He beats the count at nine and there’s about 40 seconds till the bell. Will he make it? And he does! What a first round!
Guardian’s unofficial score: Joshua 8-10 Ngannou (Joshua 8-10 Ngannou)
The fighters have been announced. The final instructions have been given. The seconds are out. We’ll pick it up with round-by-round coverage from here.
It’s 3.19am in Riyadh and the fighters are making their entrances. First it’s Ngannou, who looks all business as he makes the long walk at a methodical pace to God’s Plan by Drake. Now it’s Joshua’s turn. The former two-time unified heavyweight champion strolls down a bridge flanked by pyrotechnics and takes a direct route to the ring as Skepta’s I Spy blasts at ear-splitting volumes. All in all an understated ringwalk by AJ standards. Both fighters are inside the ropes and Michael Buffer has taken the microphone to go through the introductions.
Updated
Parker beats Zhang by majority decision
Parker has eked out the result despite getting knocked down in the third and eighth rounds. One ringside judge scored it a 113-113 draw while the other two had it 114-112 and 115-111 for the New Zealand puncher. Parker is now the WBO interim heavyweight champion.
Zhang has dropped Parker for a second time, this time in the eighth round with a chopping lead right hook. Parker had really turned things around since the first knockdown in the third, taking advantage of a suddenly passive opponent who’d seemed content to hunt of the knockout. But almost out of nowhere, Zhang sends his foe to the canvas with another innocent-looking blow.
Updated
The final undercard bout has come alive as Zhang drops Parker in the third round. It was a gorgeous straight left that probably didn’t travel farther than a foot. Parker makes it to the bell but blood is pouring from his nose, adding a sense of urgency into what had been unfolding as a cagey, technical encounter. Advantage to Big Bang Zhang.
A special cameo at ringside. A certain Portuguese football manager has taken his seat for tonight’s fights.
Vargas retains WBC featherweight title by split draw
Rey Vargas has just retained the WBC’s version of the featherweight title after a controversial split draw with Liverpool’s Nick Ball, the undefeated prospect who roared back from a quiet start to score a pair of knockdowns in the later rounds.
One judge scored it 114-112 for Vargas, another 116-110 for Ball while the third had it 113-113. The announcement is met by a chorus of boos from the Kingdom Arena crowd that only rises in volume when Vargas is interviewed in the ring during the aftermath.
Next up: a delicious heavyweight scrap between WBO interim champion Zhilei Zhang and Joseph Parker, who held the WBO’s primary belt from 2016 through 2018. The main event between Joshua and Ngannou will follow.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to Riyadh’s Kingdom Arena for tonight’s crossover match between Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou. It’s been billed as the Knockout Chaos: a scheduled 10-round bout under boxing rules between the former two-time unified heavyweight champion amnd a former UFC champion with exactly one professional boxing match under his belt.
Joshua (27-3, 24 KO), at 34 years old, has won three straight bouts after back-to-back defeats ot Oleksandr Usyk and is still angling for another run at a heavyweight belt. But the 2012 Olympic gold medalist has put those plans on hold for a highly lucrative date with the 37-year-old Ngannou, who defied all expectations five months ago with a disputed split-decision loss to lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, scoring the only knockdown of the evening along the way. Fury may have won the fight, but Ngannou clearly won the event.
That automatically makes Ngannou (0-1, 0 KO) an awfully intriguing proposition entering tonight’s sophomore outing. But was Ngannou really that good against Fury, or was Fury that poor in overlooking the Cameroonian neophyte? We’ll have answers soon enough.
We’re around an hour from the main event ringwalks. Plenty to come between now and then.
Bryan will be here shortly. In the meantime here’s Donald McRae’s lookahead to tonight’s fight in Riyadh.
