09 March 2024 , 00:35
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Anthony Joshua succeeded where Tyson Fury failed and blasted out Francis Ngannou while his rival watched from ringside.
Fury was dropped by the former UFC champion last year before earning a sluggish points win, but Joshua made no such mistake, dropping the Cameroonian three times en-route to a bludgeoning second-round victory.
The former two-time world champion is now in pole position to fight the winner of Fury's undisputed clash with Oleksandr Usyk. Boxing's new powerbroker Turki Alalshikh has made no secret of his desire to stage Joshua vs Fury in the desert.
Ngannou was left flattened by Joshua (Getty Images)And few would back against the all-British heavyweight clash happening this year if Fury beats fellow champion Usyk back in Saudi Arabia on May 18."It is what it is," said Joshua. "On the route to the championship, you should stay focused on the road ahead. When I saw his fight with Tyson Fury, I thought, 'Damn, I want some of that'.
"Francis can come again. He is two fights in and he's fought the best. He can go a long way. "I'm going to go to my cage and I'll be let out when it's time to fight." Asked if that means the winner of Fury vs Usyk, Joshua said: "Yes it does".
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Joshua won three fights in nine months last year as he recovered from his devastating back-to-back defeats by Usyk. He was fighting in the Middle East for the fourth time - while Ngannou walked to the ring for just his second professional boxing match.
The first bell rang shortly before 3am in Riyadh and Ngannou immediately looked to land the left hook he had identified as Joshua's Kryptonite. But Joshua had been waiting to pounce and dropped Ngannou with a right hand flush on the chin.
Anthony Joshua destroyed Francis Ngannou (Getty Images)Ngannou beat the count and managed to see out the final seconds of the round but had to cling on at the start of the second round when Joshua landed another backhand. And the Brit found his mark again with less than a minute remaining as Ngannou hit the canvas. Again he rose, but he was soon flattened again and this time the referee had no choice but to wave off the bout.
On the undercard, Joseph Parker, who defeated Deontay Wilder last December, overcame two knockdowns to outpoint Zhilei Zhang and put himself in pole position for another world title shot.
Zhang looked the brighter from the opening bell and landed flush with a straight left hand in the third round which dumped Parker on the ground. Zhang continued to pressure the former world champion in the fourth session before Parker enjoyed his best round in the fifth.
Having worked his way back into the fight, Parker hurt Zhang at the start of the eighth round. But it was the New Zealander who hit the canvas seconds later, succumbing to a left-right combination. Parker again recovered well as Zhang began to visibly tire heading into the championship rounds - and it was he who was given the nod on the cards.
Joseph Parker outpointed Zhilei Zhang (Getty Images)Liverpool's Nick Ball fell short in his maiden world title challenge against Rey Vargas despite mounting a valiant comeback in the second half of the fight. Ball lost the first six rounds, leaving him needing to at least drop the champion to have a chance of snatching the title.
He burst into the fight in the seventh round, rocking Vargas with a right hand - and then gave himself a real chance when he dropped the Mexican in the eighth session with a left hook. And he sent him back to the canvas with his other hand in the 11th round but the judges collectively scored the fight a draw. A dejected Ball said: "I had two knockdowns and was putting the pressure on for the whole fight."
Roman Fury admitted he's living in a dreamland after labouring to victory in front of his famous family. Despite his lineage, Fury, 27, was fighting for just the fourth time in his life having taken up the sport to lose weight during lockdown. And he did just enough to outpoint fellow unbeaten fighter Martin Svarc, winning 39-37 on the referee's scorecard.
Fury had boxing brothers Tyson and Tommy supporting him from the front row, while dad John was in his corner. And he said: "I feel the pressure but I am enjoying life. Where I've come from from two years ago to where I am now, nobody could have imagined it. I keep thinking I might wake up soon because all of this just feels like a dream."
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