Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou: Boxing, MMA stars react to the brutal ‘AJ’ knockout blow

Boxing

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Anthony Joshua made Francis Ngannou look like a fish out of water on Friday. Joshua knocked down Ngannou twice in their main event boxing match before laying him out with a thunderous knockout in Round 2.

Ngannou had not been stopped in 22 professional fights — 20 in mixed martial arts and one apiece in boxing and kickboxing — heading into Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Friday. He looked like a marvel taking WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury to a split decision in October. In that fight, Ngannou stunned the world by scoring a knockdown, which helped fuel the interest in seeing him against more top heavyweight stars in boxing.

Against Joshua, however, Ngannou was completely out of his depth. 

“It is what it is,” Joshua said during his post-fight interview. “He’s a great champion and this doesn’t take away anything from his capabilities. He can come again. I told him he shouldn’t leave boxing. He can do well. 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.”

Take a look below at how stars from boxing and MMA, including Jake Paul, Ryan Garcia and champions from each sport, reacted to Joshua’s terrifying KO of Ngannou.

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