It took Anthony Joshua two rounds to knockout Francis Ngannou.
The British-Nigerian boxer didn’t mess about and give Ngannou a glimpse of hope like Tyson Fury did.
Only one minute into the ‘Knockout Chaos’ main event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Joshua sent the former UFC champion sprawling on the canvas with a typical right hook.
A shell-shocked Ngannou was facing another countdown just before the first round ended.
Joshua put the Cameroonian out of his misery with an emphatic finish as the second round wound down.
It was a blow that shattered any prospect of a sensational upset and continued AJ’s march towards becoming a three-time world champion.
Ola Olukole, a Senior Tech Specialist (Virtualization), was more shocked by Ngannou’s approach to the fight.
“Shocking. Real shocking, especially after the outing against Fury,” Ola tells OsunDailyNG.
“Unlike Fury, AJ wasn’t playing around trying to test if he’s a boxer or not. He attacked early to gauge his reach.
“I think some bad habits from MMA opened the door for AJ’s shots.
“He opened his block for that first straight. The second was him dropping his left arm to casually parry AJ’s right. He dropped again.
“For the KO, Francis did something amateur going weak with southpaw and AJ saw it open and slapped the KO.”
But take nothing away from Joshua’s victory. It is probably the most destructive knockout of his career.
And he looks like a man on his way back up.
“AJ is also different, He changed coaches or trainers, lately he’s been dictating tempo unlike before where he leans and allows the opponent to come at him,” Olukole pointed out.
“He’s mean and pushes now. He didn’t even really need his jabs to win this.
“I actually think He’s back. He’s different. I read somewhere he went to the US for a couple of months for training and has a new coach.
“I thought he might be on his way back in his last fight, but this one — he faced Francis straight up. He didn’t play around or even bounced around.”
This win follows up statement stoppages over Robert Helenius and Otto Wallin in reigniting his pursuit of another world title opportunity.
The victory is now expected to pave the way to a shot at the winner of Fury and Oleksandr Usyk’s clash for the undisputed heavyweight championship.
Olukole feels like Joshua would put up a great show against either man.
“I actually think he’s in great shape to fight whoever, as long as he continues whatever he’s been doing recently.
“He doesn’t sit around now. He’s calculated at least in this fight,” he added.
