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Francis Ngannou was handed the first knockout loss of his combat sports career when he faced Anthony Joshua on Mar. 8.
The event was aptly named Knockout Chaos, with Ngannou and Joshua facing off in the main event of the card.
'The Predator' entered his sophomore boxing match full of confidence given his stellar performance against Tyson Fury, a fight many believe Ngannou won despite losing via split-decision.
But the former UFC champion was knocked down in Round 1 and Round 2 before being knocked out cold in the second-round by a thudding overhand right from 'AJ'. Since the result, theories having sprouted suggesting that the KO was fake, and Joshua's promoter, Eddie Hearn, has now shared his thoughts on the rumors.
The Matchroom Boxing chairman was recently interviewed by iFL TV, where said this:
"So Joshua throws the right hand and just misses? Or Ngannou just takes it clean on the chin but pretends to be knocked out? Which one is it?"
He continued:
"I remember people said it about Jake Paul's knockout of Tyron Woodley. You see the right hand, and you see the spray coming off his head. This is not WWE! Firstly, can you imagine me going up to 'AJ' and going, 'Mate, we wanna talk about how we're going to stage a knockout between you and Ngannou.'"
Watch Hearn discuss Francis Ngannou's KO being fake below from 9:40:
Francis Ngannou reflects on Anthony Joshua knocking him out
Francis Ngannou faced off against Anthony Joshua in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in the main event of Knockout Chaos on Mar. 8.
After dropping Tyson Fury with a left-hook and narrowly losing via split-decision to the WBC champion in 2023, there was much anticipation for Ngannou's bout against 'AJ'. But the Cameroonian did not find the same level of success against Joshua, who dropped 'The Predator' twice en route to his KO victory.
It was the first time the former UFC champion was stopped in his combat sports career, and he reflected on the defeat during his recent appearance on The MMA Hour.
He said this:
"I remember when I got hit by the first punch, I was more surprised about the fact that I was falling down from the punch than the punch itself. Sometimes in sparring you take a punch and you're like, 'Damn this guy hits hard.' I took a punch, the first punch, I was awake but I found myself down... I don't remember getting up from the stool to right the second-round."
Watch Francis Ngannou discuss his KO loss below:
