Fans were left concerned about Francis Ngannou’s health after he was brutally knocked out by Anthony Joshua. Ngannou participated in his second boxing bout on March 8, 2024, in Saudi Arabia. Expectations were high from Ngannnou as he impressed everyone with his debut against Fury. Joshua, on the other hand, stayed calm and collected throughout the buildup.
During the fight as well, Johshua was calm and focused. It paid dividends as he saw no difficulty seeing out the Camroonian-French athlete.
In the first round, Joshua struck some strong body blows as Ngannou tried to punch him but could not succeed. Joshua’s game plan was to strike Ngannou right as he tried to punch him because The Predator’s defense seemed too low. AJ struck Ngannou with a strong right hand and knocked him down. The Cameroonian, however, stood back up and came again.
The second round was not pretty at all. Ngannou got knocked down again in a similar fashion. He looked like he was in trouble but he is not someone who backs down. Ngannou got up again but this time, in just seconds, he met with one of the strongest right hands in boxing. AJ caught him flush in the face and Ngannou was out cold.
Francis Ngannou needed Oxygen to be administered by the ringside doctor after Anthony Joshua KO’D him in round 2. #JoshuaNgannou pic.twitter.com/ppDnAI68nK
— MMA UNCENSORED (@MMAUNCENSORED1) March 9, 2024
He was knocked out and he stayed knocked out for a while. As the broadcast went on and people reacted to AJ’s KO win, Ngannou lay there in the ring with the medical team having a look at him. He was down for a few minutes before getting up. He was taken to a corner and given oxygen by the doctors.
Francis Ngannou attends the post-match press conference in a healthy condition
Ngannou’s medical condition was unknown until he got back up after getting knocked out. He was given oxygen and later stood up to greet his opponent. AJ showed immense respect to Ngannou and asked him to not leave boxing. Although Ngannou walked around normally, he looked absolutely dazed. He did not give an in-ring post-fight interview which caused further concerns.
However, Ngannou took to X to react to his KO loss. He wrote, “Sorry guys I let you all down… Today was a bad day in the office but tomorrow will be another day… Thank you all for the love.”
Sorry guys I let you all down 😔 Today was a bad day in the office but tomorrow will be another day.
Thank you all for the love ❤️— Francis Ngannou (@francis_ngannou) March 9, 2024
This came as a relief to fans as he finally responded after his defeat. He earned support from many around the combat sports world for going toe-to-toe against two of the greatest heavyweights of the generation.
Ngannou also attended the post-fight press conference. AJ was already in there attending to questions and Ngannou joined in late. He was greeted by a round of applause from his in-ring opponent. Ngannou admitted that AJ was much better than Fury and also better than him on the day. He also said, “I didn’t feel the punch. I think that is what the knockout is about.”
‼️ Total respect between Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou at their post-fight press conference: “He was just way better than me today.”
[🎥 @Queensberry] pic.twitter.com/AYXFFYeRk5
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) March 9, 2024
Ngannou also gave updates on his future plan, “You know as for right now I’m gonna go home get some rest. Process what just happened. You know it’s been a hell of a day… But maybe mma but you can’t be sure that I’m not done here.”
The pair posed for a picture after the conference and AJ uploaded it on his social media accounts. As for Ngannou’s medical condition, he looked okay but a little dazed at the conference. Further medical checks will probably be done on the Cameroonian to attest to his fitness.