Anthony Joshua getting his hand raised after knockout of Francis Ngannou Photo Credit: DAZN

Former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou performed admirably in his first professional boxing match last October, losing in a very controversial decision against Tyson Fury that many thought he won. Unfortunately for Ngannou, his second boxing match on Friday night against former unified WBO, WBA, and IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua went nowhere near to plan. 

Many MMA fans were skeptical of how Ngannou would perform in boxing against some of the best heavyweights in the world given his limited amount of experience in the sport.

He very much showed the world that he belonged in the ring against Fury last year. But the same could not be said for his matchup against Joshua.

Joshua made quick work of Ngannou in the highly anticipated match, first knocking him down and later finishing the job with a knockout in the second round.

Naturally, fans had plenty to say about the knockout, with some praising Joshua and others saying that Ngannou should stick to MMA.

https://twitter.com/MufcWonItAll2/status/1766266603233005973

It was a resounding victory for boxing in the Boxing-MMA debate that has existed as long as MMA has been around.

For Joshua, this win likely sets up a long-awaited match against Tyson Fury. And for Ngannou, it certainly complicates things regarding his future in both boxing and MMA.

Ngannous is still under contract with the Professional Fighters League (PFL), one of the biggest MMA promotions in the world.

He was scheduled to face Renan Ferreira for the PFL heavyweight championship without an official date set. Ngannou said before this boxing match with Joshua that the date for the Ferreira fight would be determined by his success against Joshua.

Chances are that the fight between Ferreira and Ngannou will now be pushed back, if not canceled altogether due to this recent result for Ngannou.

Ngannou will now need to decide whether he wants to continue to pursue boxing or go back to fight Ferreira in the PFL.

If this knockout loss against Joshua is any indication of things to come in Ngannou’s boxing career, maybe he should just stick with the sport that he experienced so much success in with the PFL.

[Steven Rae on Twitter/X]

About Reice Shipley

Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.