Illustrious pugilist praises Francis Ngannou’s grit, but says “we should never see him in the boxing ring ever again”

Carl Froch never wants to see Francis Ngannou in the boxing ring ever again.

'The Predator' had his second-ever boxing match over the weekend. On Friday night in Saudi Arabia, Ngannou headed to the ring to face former two-time champion Anthony Joshua. The bout was just a few months removed from the MMA star's debut in boxing.

In his boxing debut, the PFL fighter dropped and rocked Tyson Fury. However, Ngannou was unable to defeat 'The Gypsy King,' who escaped with a split-decision win. While there was somewhat of a moral victory for 'The Predator' last year, there was nothing positive about Friday.

In classic Anthony Joshua fashion, he just went forward and threw bombs. While Francis Ngannou had some answers early, he went southpaw, similar to what he did against Fury, and he paid the price. The MMA fighter was badly dropped to close round one and didn't get any better.

In the final minute of round two, Ngannou was floored. Again, he battled on, but it just took a singular right hand from Joshua to put him down for good. With a result like that, Carl Froch is ready to move on from Ngannou in the heavyweight boxing scene.

'The Cobra' is a champion and a great in the ring himself. While Froch respects Ngannou, he doesn't want to see him in there anymore. On his YouTube channel, he stated (via DAZN):

“AJ deserves all the credit, he’s got in there, he’s done the business, he’s smashed Ngannou and that’s probably finished Ngannou’s career. He’s made a few quid, he deserves respect, he’s gone in there with two of the best in the business, but we should never see him in the heavyweight ring, the boxing ring, ever again.”

Check out his comments below (5:00)

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Francis Ngannou cracks jokes about knockout loss

Francis Ngannou isn't taking his knockout loss to heart.

After 'The Predator' lost on Saturday, naturally, many boxers took the chance to mock him. Names such as Ryan Garcia and others slammed Ngannou for thinking he had a chance against Joshua.

To his credit, however, Anthony Joshua was quite respectful of the former UFC champion. The two appeared side-by-side at the post-fight press conference and were quite cordial.

Despite incoming criticism from Carl Froch and others, Francis Ngannou kept his head high. When asked how hard 'AJ' hits, the MMA fighter joked:

"It's the game, we all know that. In fact, I didn't feel the punch, I think that's what the knockout was about! I didn't feel anything!"

Check out his comments below: