By KUNLE AWOSIYAN

The commentator noticed from the start that the match might end earlier. This was due to amateurish technique of Francis Ngannou.

His hands positioning against a highly technical Anthony Joshua was awful. The Cameroonian was throwing hands and opening up himself against the Briton, Anthony Joshua.

Ngannou was reckless in his approach and quickly made mess of himself in Saudi Arabia early this morning. He failed to build on his previous performance against Tyson Fury.

What I saw this morning was a buffalo against a Lion. The brave Buffalo, Ngannou ended up as a prey in Joshua, Lion’s paws.

I saw anger in the face of Anthony Joshua and I also sensed calmness. I saw a more disciplined and mature boxer. I saw a potential three-time heavyweight champion in the nearest future.

Joshua had not come to announce himself, he came to return Ngannou to his place, UFC.

The Briton had a gameplan and it was to erase the Cameroonian quickly and perhaps to damage him and tell him about boxing.

An MMA fighter challenging a professional boxer and using the fists, the only weapon, will be embarking on a suicide mission. That was what happened to Ngannou earlier this morning.

He did it in style, in two rounds as he made Ngannou to hate boxing afterwards.

After the Cameroonian saw the first blow like lightning, his face changed right on the canvas, his countenance also changed, for the first time he tasted real boxing.

READ ALSO: EXTRA: Boxing rules that’ll save Joshua against Ngannou

However, Joshua did not allow him to think further, he finished the job with the second devastating blow that crashed Ngannou for the second time in five minutes.

It took the Cameroonian five minutes on the floor and would only rise after medical attention. That was the meaning of heavyweight. Boxing is not about bodybuilding but techniques.

On getting up Ngannou held AJ and said “bro, I quit” (I’m quitting boxing) AJ replied “No, you have to box, don’t give up”.

I once wrote that Ngannou’s Fury test was not the real deal for the Cameroonian, that the former UFC champion would need to learn the ropes to become a proper boxer.

A boxer works more on his hands and brain more than his body unlike an MMA professional who combines wrestling and kickboxing to fight his opponent. Punching a bag over a long time naturally gathers weight on the fist.

An MMA fighter challenging a professional boxer and using the fists, the only weapon, will be embarking on a suicide mission. That was what happened to Ngannou earlier this morning.

Having made about $20 million from this fight, I advise Ngannou to go back to MMA or else he will remain in boxing as a punching bag.

Congratulations to Joshua.

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Anthony Joshua secured a brutal knockout (KO), against   Francis Ngannou in the second round of the ‘Knockout Chaos’ clash on Friday night.

The superstar recording artiste, known for placing massive bets on sporting events, posted earlier on Instagram that he was  betting $615,000 on Ngannou to beat Joshua outright.

“Betting on a scary man,” Drake said.

Drake joined several fans of combat sports to believe that Ngannou could get the job done against Joshua, and if the bet had clicked, it would have paid out $1.9million.

Although Drake has recorded some big wins and losses in betting, he has gained notoriety with the “the Drake Curse”, assertion by fans accusing him of ‘cursing’ athletes and teams after being pictured with them.

The ‘curse’ has affected numerous victims such as quarterback Johny Manziel, UFC fighter Kamaru Usman, Tennis star Serena Williams,  and even the entire Kentucky Wildcats Basketball team in the United States.

In January, the rapper lost over half-a-million pounds when he incorrectly backed Sean Strickland to defend his UFC middleweight championship against Dricus Du Plessis.

One of Drake’s biggest bets in 2023 was on YouTube boxer,  Logan Paul to knocout Conor McGregor’s training partner Dillon Danis in their Misfits Boxing fight.

The rapper won $1.3million after Danis was disqualified in the final round for trying to choke Paul unconscious, prompting a massive brawl to break out in the ring.

Earlier before that fight, Drake missed out on a $920,000 payout after Nigerian born Israel Adesanya lost his UFC middleweight title to Sean Strickland.

Drake was routing for Adesanya to knockout Strickland in their world title clash, but Strickland produced a massive upset to win on points.

Source: NAN

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Joshua, 34, floored the UFC champion in the first round and early in the second.

A dazed Ngannou rose to his feet in Riyadh but was stunned by an explosive and formidable right moments later as the referee halted the contest.

The 37-year-old appeared to be out before he even hit the canvas and required medical treatment.

“I’m going back to my cage and when they let me out, I’ll fight again,” Joshua said, as WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury watched on from ringside.

Fury made tough work of Ngannou in October when he was dropped by the debutant before edging a points win.

“When I saw the fight with Tyson Fury I thought ‘I want some of that’. [Ngannou] is a great champion and this doesn’t take anything away from his capabilities,” said Joshua.

“I told him not to leave boxing. He’s two fights in and he’s fought the best.”

Victory is two-time world champion Joshua’s fourth in 11 months, and keeps alive his ambition of recapturing a world title.

Eddie Hearn called for Joshua, who he has promoted throughout the heavyweight’s pro career, to face the winner of Fury and Oleksandr Usyk.

The pair will fight to become the undisputed heavyweight world champion in May, with a rematch later in the year.

“In five years I won’t be fighting,” Joshua added. “Eddie Hearn and my team will shape my future.”

A knockout for the highlight reels

With the card running more than an hour later than planned, it was 03:20 local time when master of ceremonies Michael Buffer introduced Ngannou to the ring.

Dressed in a pink and white robe with gold tassels, Ngannou made the solitary walk down the aisle to the tune of ‘God’s Plan’ by Drake.

A frowning Joshua looked full of purpose as he strutted to the ring with confidence.

He kneeled down and recited a prayer in his corner.

Joshua drew the loudest reaction, a mixture of boos and jeers.

He seemed completely undeterred, his eyes set firmly on Ngannou.

And it was a near-perfect start for the Watford-born fighter.

Ngannou had just narrowly missed with a lead left hand as Joshua remained calm and composed.

AJ extended his backhand to land a flush right down the pipe.

READ ALSO: EXTRA: Joshua can still win a belt, By Kunle Awosiyan

By flooring Ngannou, he had done within three minutes what Fury failed to do in 10 rounds four months ago.

A stunned Ngannou got up on the count of eight and saw out the round.

Joshua has become a smarter fighter in recent years, honing his technical ability.

He doubled his jab, bided his time and waited for an opening.

Another right hand had Ngannou clamouring on the floor.

He beat the count in the nick of time but the writing was on the wall.

The finishing punch was one which will undoubtedly take centre stage in future Joshua knockout highlights reel.

A statement win in Saudi

A well-schooled amateur boasting Olympic gold and a two-time world champion with wins against some of the best in the division, Joshua’s experience prevails in the early hours in Riyadh.

The razzmatazz of Saudi boxing was on show, albeit still under the backdrop of critics claiming the Kingdom is using high-profile sporting events to ‘sports wash’ away its human rights records.

While it was not the star studded affair seen in past event in the region, former champions Amir Khan and Manny Pacquiao rubbed shoulders with the likes of football manager Jose Mourinho and Brazilian World Cup winner Ronaldo.

The card was billed as ‘knockout chaos’ but the Saudi crowd – as they usually do – behaved in a very quiet and orderly manner.

The pressure was on Joshua to deliver a message to rival Fury.

A fighter who has faced an intense level of scrutiny in recent years, Joshua acknowledged the impact of trainer Ben Davison.

Davison was in Joshua’s corner for the second time, having also overseen December’s dominant win over Otto Wallin.

“I didn’t want to disrespect Ngannou but he’s not been hit by someone like AJ before,” Davison told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“I’ll let people judge whether he is improving. The only way to find out who is the best is to get the winner of Fury and Usyk. That’s the only thing that makes sense.”

Whether Ngannou listens to Joshua’s advice and returns to the sport anytime soon awaits to be soon, but the ‘Predator’ is a proven winner – whether it be in life, the UFC octagon or a boxing ring.

His journey has taken him from a 12-year-old working in sand quarry in Cameroon to living on the streets of Paris, before becoming UFC champion.

Although his childhood dream of becoming a boxing world champion may never become reality, Ngannou is set to return to MMA later this year with the PFL in search of his next prey.

Source: BBC

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By KUNLE AWOSIYAN

None of today’s elite heavyweight boxers can easily break into the UFC ring as the former MMA champion, Francis Ngannou has done to boxing.

Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder are nursing the ambition of stepping into MMA, they will find it so difficult because of the rules and their stamina.

Ngannou will crush them all inside UFC ring where strength and power are more visible than tactics.

The amount of energy expended by an average Martial Arts professional is so much compared to his counterpart in boxing where rules dominate the game more than raw power.

Joshua is a more serious boxer in the ring than Fury and can cause damage to Ngannou if the Cameroonian would be appearing for a showoff instead of a real fight.

If it were in MMA, Tyson Fury wouldn’t have been allowed to rise from the canvas after Ngannou’s hook. The Cameroonian would have pounced on the Briton and finished him off.

But the boxing rules allow a fallen opponent to rise before the count of ten and continue with the fight. Even at that, boxers have one minute interval between rounds to rest.

MMA is energy sapping, it is a brawl, it is an art of stamina while boxing is more of a science, an art of tactics.

The rules in boxing makes it more scientific and it gives advantage to boxers who are more intelligent, who have greater ring IQ and ability to box with speed and accuracy.

Of course, there is power in boxing, many champions of the game were men of lesser muscles but endurance and techniques.

The likes of Muhammad Ali, Lennox Lewis, Klitschko brothers, Larry Holmes who dominated the ring for years exercised their brains more than their punches in the ring.

Mike Tyson who came with power deduced a special tactic that made him last for a few years but failed to excel against great champions of Lewis and Evander Holyfield status whose ring IQ were better.

Friday bout between Anthony Joshua and Ngannou will favour the Briton more because of the boxing rules.

Joshua is an intelligent boxer while Ngannou is a fighter. In tomorrow’s game, I expect Joshua unlike Fury to break down Ngannou bit by bit to win the match.

READ ALSO: EXTRA: The place of chin, stamina and punch in boxing

Joshua has the boxing rules to his advantage, which Ngannou is just learning and should use it to see off the Cameroonian instead of going into a brawl with the former UFC champion.

Apart from the fact that the boxing gloves are more padded than the MMA gloves, Ngannou’s performance against Fury has shown that the former UFC champion can receive big punches and still stand.

Ngannou is also a hard puncher but would need to bring his MMA mentality to the boxing ring if at all he has the intention to stay in the game.

Joshua will box, he will clinch. He will run away from heavy punches and move Ngannou round the ring for a boxing tutorials but then he must be very careful from stray blow.

Joshua is a more serious boxer in the ring than Fury and can cause damage to Ngannou if the Cameroonian would be appearing for a showoff instead of a real fight.

I once wrote that Ngannou’s maiden boxing bout was more of a showoff and an opportunity to announce himself, with “I can do it mentality”.

Now, he should come with “I can win it mentality”. This will make the fight very interesting as it will bring out the “A” performance from Joshua who has since become a better boxer.

Joshua will box, he will clinch. He will run away from heavy punches and move Ngannou round the ring for a boxing tutorials but then he must be very careful from stray blow.

Good luck to these African warriors

The post EXTRA: Boxing rules that’ll save Joshua against Ngannou appeared first on Frontpageng.

Undoubtedly, Anthony Joshua is winning the fight against Francis Ngannou in Riyadh in March.

This bout is strictly about the purse, which will not in any way remove the spectacle, size and class of names that will attend the show.

Riyadh is the new boxing theatre. The slaughter slab of this era.

However I foresee Joshua/Ngannou to be a one sided match between the two body builders. For me it is not a match Joshua should have taken at a time his ovation is growing louder.

Joshua needs somebody like Zhilei Zhang to really test his new found skills but then he had opted for money and a battle that will not give him too much pressure.

Ngannou will be coming with more confidence, having shown the world what he can do against Tyson Fury late last year, which of course may count against him.

He has seen that boxing is not as rigorous as UFC in terms of the amount of raw energy expended. He has seen that his punch could actually throw a heavyweight down but he has never taken a brutally uppercut or a devastating hook that could twist his neck or cut his eye.

His endurance has not really been tested. He may feel it against Joshua.

He fought against Fury who never took him serious. He fought against a less technical and more careless boxer on that night.

Fury is more of a fighter than a boxer. He is less tactical than Joshua but he is stronger. Fury just learnt his first lesson, unfortunately, from a UFC convert, Ngannou.

However, Ngannou will be meeting a descent boxer in March. I say a descent boxer because Joshua has learnt many lessons and these in a way has helped him to become a better boxer.

His first lesson was against Andy Ruiz Junior where he learnt that he shouldn’t have thrown himself in the front of a heavy puncher.

He learnt twice against Oleksandr Usyk, whose boxing intelligence surpasses any member of the elite class at present.

Against Ruiz, Joshua bounced back, maximised the ring, took Ruiz round the 12 rounds to reclaim his belt.

Yes it was a formula that didn’t fit him but then he was able to learn new things. To conserve energy for 12 rounds in order to tire out a heavy builder. In the process, he outboxed Ruiz and won unanimously.

The tactics never worked for him against Usyk. The Ukranian is faster, lighter and more mobile. Twice he could not find answers to Usyk. Joshua was outboxed.

However, the two lessons and their executions paid off as he combined the tactics to get 12-round win against Jermain Franklin, a six-round knockout against Robert Helenius and five-round technical knockout against Otto Wallin.

READ ALSO: AFCON: Watching Eagles with blind eyes, By Kunle Awosiyan

Ngannou is coming to Joshua’s school and he will be fighting a more cautious Briton who has not only noticed his error. Joshua may not have felt the power of Ngannou, he has seen it push down his compatriot.  He is going to be more tactical and cautious, yet very dangerous against Ngannou.

Joshua has seen that big punches may not fall Ngannou but then a punctured eye can take out the Cameroonian. To set up an Ngannou for a big blow won’t be a big problem for Joshua. And if the Cameroonian, due to his crude boxing wisdom, falls for this setup, he may get injured in the early rounds.

To some people, Ngannou did well against Fury, for me he did little. He came for a show and he got it. He won the crowd but the fight.

Funnily enough, he came for a show against an unserious pugilist who talks more than fighting. Ngannou exposed himself too much to Fury but then the Briton failed to knock him down until a hook threw him on the canvas.

I foresee an Ngannou exploring the aggressive tactics to destabilise Joshua but the Briton will definitely keep him at a distance and fight from outside.

I see Joshua combining favourably from the outside. I see Joshua winning another technical knockout. This time against Ngannou.

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It was, indeed, a fight that almost delivered one of boxing’s biggest upsets.

Fury, unbeaten holder of one of the sport’s most prestigious belts, narrowly avoided a first defeat at the hands of a 37-year-old opponent who had never boxed professionally before.

But the Cameroon-born Ngannou went through the full 10 rounds with some swagger.

Ngannou dropped the Briton to the canvas in round three with a left hook but the 35-year-old self-styled “Gypsy King” was able to see out the round.

He, however, had no doubts about what he was up against.

“That definitely wasn’t in the script.

“He’s a hell of a fighter and a hell of a lot better boxer than we thought he would be. He’s an awkward man and a good puncher and I respect him a lot.

READ ALSO: Lawson: She was enterprising, courageous -Tinubu

“He’s given me one of my toughest fights of the last 10 years,” said Fury after two of the judges gave him the win 96-93 and 95-94.

The third judge scored it 95-94 in favour of his Cameroon-French opponent.

Fury said there was no rematch clause but he would like to fight Ngannou again “down the line” and after an undisputed title fight with Ukraine’s IBF, IBO, WBO and WBA champion, Oleksandr Usyk.

The pair are set to meet in Riyadh at a date yet to be announced officially but that both champions said would be December 23.

Usyk, who was in Saudi Arabia to watch his future opponent, said he was ready.

Ngannou vacated his heavyweight belt after a contract dispute with UFC and exited as a free agent in January.

“My training camp was only three and a half months and I came into this with an injury.

“But I don’t want to give excuses. I will look at what I can do next to improve my game to come back even better.

“Now I know I can do this…, get ready. The wolf is in the house,” he said.

Source: Reuters/NAN

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