Anthony Joshua Starches Francis Ngannou in Second Round of Heavyweight Headliner

WHAAAT JOSHUA KILLS NGANNOU! #JoshuaNgannou pic.twitter.com/yMqpWRkoG0

— TakeruCigarra (@TakeruCigarra) March 9, 2024

Anthony Joshua reminded the masses that it only takes one shot at the heavyweight division.

To headline the all-day boxing showcase in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Anthony Joshua represented the sweet science against the marauding Francis Ngannou. The former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight king acquitted himself extremely well in his pro boxing debut against Tyson Fury in 2023, but the same could not be said when he took on “AJ.” Joshua wasted little time putting the dangerous Ngannou on ice, dropping the MMA fighter twice before completely flattening him with a right hand in the second round.

Joshua (28-3, 25 KOs) only needed to score five power punches, according to Compubox numbers, to record three knockdowns in their heavyweight main attraction. Ngannou (0-2, 0 KOs) kept things close to start, jabbing the head and body early on while threatening with his ferocious left hand. The Brit retaliated by splitting the guard with a sharp right that sent “The Predator” crashing to the canvas. Ngannou used the entire count and rode out the remainder of the round while keeping Joshua at bay from finishing the job then and there.

While he had hit the floor once in the opening frame, Ngannou appeared to have recovered going into the second stanza. The former UFC king reached his foe several times, but Joshua was on a mission. “AJ” parried a few jabs and unloaded a right hand, stunning and ultimately knocking his Cameroonian counterpart to the mat for the second time. Ngannou shook his head and worked his way back upright, but his expression had changed. Joshua had his number. A few seconds later, Joshua wound up with a monstrous right hand, and Ngannou walked right into it. The event title “Knockout Chaos” proved prophetic, as Ngannou was unconscious before his head hit the ground. Referee Ricky Gonzalez broke off the count to wave off the match at 2:38 of Round 2, with Joshua leaving his opponent asking what happened after coming to.

Joshua picked up his 25th knockout as a pro by depriving Ngannou of his consciousness, and he called for a fight against Fury, despite Fury's already busy dance card with Oleksandr Usyk.

Related » Joshua-Ngannou Round-by-Round Scoring

Earlier on the main card, Joseph Parker (35-3, 23 KOs) fought through two knockdowns en route to an otherwise pedestrian majority decision (113-113, 114-112, 115-111) over Zhilei Zhang (26-2-1, 21 KOs) to claim the interim WBO heavyweight strap; Rey Vargas (36-1-1, 22 KOs) survived two knockdowns and retained his WBC featherweight crown by taking Nick Ball (19-0-1, 11 KOs) to a questionable split draw with scores of 114-112, 110-116 and 113-113; Israil Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KOs) handed Magomed Kurbanov (25-1, 13 KOs) his first career defeat by forcing a standing TKO in the fifth round at 2:20, with Madrimov claiming the vacant WBA super welterweight belt; Mark Chamberlain (15-0, 11 KOs) ran roughshod over Gavin Gwynne (17-3-1, 5 KOs) until he put the fellow lightweight away with a seemingly never-ending salvo of body shots at 2:46 of Round 4; Justis Huni (9-0, 4 KOs) endured a late surge from Kevin Lerena (30-3, 14 KOs) to remain unbeaten after 10 rounds of heavyweight action, with two 96-94 scores and one at 98-92 all in his favor.

In preliminary action, Louis Greene (17-4, 11 KOs) put a stamp on Jack McGann (9-1-1, 6 KOs) with a blistering right hand 89 seconds into their super welterweight pairing; Roman Fury (4-0, 1 KO), younger brother of boxing great Tyson Fury, outpointed Martin Svarc (2-1, 1 KO) in their four-round heavyweight contest with a trio of 39-37 tallies; Ziyad Almaayouf (5-0, 1 KO) picked up a six-round decision against super lightweight foe Christian Lopez Flores (14-36-2, 12 KOs) with three matching 60-54 scores; the night began with heavyweight Andrii Novytskyi (10-0, 9 KOs) putting Juan Torres (11-6-1, 4 KOs) away in the third round with a barrage at the 2:43 mark.