Follow the latest reaction and news after Anthony Joshua’s thrilling display against ex-UFC champion Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia

Anthony Joshua produced one of the finest performances of his career in a devastating knockout of Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia.

Joshua, a former two-time unified heavyweight champion, took a step closer to a blockbuster undisputed fight against Tyson Fury with a superior performance to his rival, who was made to work by the Cameroonian on his debut last October.

Joshua dropped the former UFC champion twice before a crushing third knockdown pinned Ngannou to the canvas in an emphatic stoppage.

The 34-year-old confirmed he is now in line to face the winner of Fury against Oleksandr Usyk, who beat ‘AJ’ twice previously. Follow the latest reaction and relive all the action from Knockout Chaos below:

Anthony Joshua sends message to Tyson Fury with apparent gun gesture
Anthony Joshua has expressed his desire to fight Tyson Fury next, having knocked out Francis Ngannou in devastating fashion on Friday.

Ex-UFC champion Ngannou made his boxing debut in October, dropping Fury in a shocking moment before losing a controversial decision. The Cameroonian did not come close to replicating that performance against Joshua, however, suffering a brutal second-round loss.

Briton Joshua, 34, dropped Ngannou, 37, in round one and did the same twice in round two. The final knockdown proved decisive, with Ngannou out cold on the canvas in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Joshua then seemed to make a gun gesture at his preferred next target, Fury, who was sat in the front row at the Kingdom Arena.

Speaking in the ring after the win, “AJ” said: “If that was me [losing], you’d be saying, ‘Joshua should retire.’ I don’t know if I’m in my peak. I’m pushing day by day, who knows where it will take me? In five years, I won’t be fighting no more, this will be a distant memory.

Tyson Fury provides update on Anthony Joshua fight: ‘There’s still a long way to go’
Tyson Fury has provided an update on a showdown with Anthony Joshua after his rival’s devastating knockout of Francis Ngannou.

The heavyweight world champion watched ringside in Riyadh as ‘AJ’ dispatched the former UFC champion in two dominant rounds with a crushing performance.

Ngannou was dropped heavily twice before the emphatic finish, sparking excitement over a potential meeting between the two British rivals.

Fury is in line to face Oleksandr Usyk, who beat Joshua twice previously, in an undisputed title fight in May, but Joshua reiterated his desire to meet the winner in the immediate aftermath of his latest victory.

Well, that was quite the spectacle and worth the wait.

Both boxers, and fans around the world, were kept waiting by the undercard bouts.

How it was worth every second of the time spent in anticipation.

That final right-hand punch from Anthony Joshua will be talked about and replayed for years.

It was as destructive and powerful a punch as you could imagine.

The damage had been done by the previous two blows and Francis Ngannou had no energy left to respond to the build-up to the knockout blow as Joshua lined up his man.

We hope you enjoyed our build-up – not quite to the level of Joshua’s – and the coverage of the fight itself.

It was a blockbuster performance from the man who would be king of the heavyweight division.

A huge fight awaits Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Uysk, which will set up the most mouthwatering of fights after Joshua’s display in Riyadh.

Saturday and Sunday are packed with T20 international cricket and Premier League football, so please tune in if you can.

Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou have both put their thunderous power to the test for fun in recent years.

When a boxer appears on mainstream TV to measure their strength, they are usually not allowed to leave until they have used the famous ‘punch machine challenge’, especially when they’re a heavyweight champion.

AJ did not disappoint during an appearance on the Graham Norton show in 2017.

As soon as he saw the machine, he took his suit jacket off and strolled over to have a turn.

He graciously let fellow guests – actors Rachel Weisz, Martin Freeman and Greg Davies – go first.

They scored 182, 594 and 632 respectively before Joshua turned up and smashed it with his right hand.

He scored 848 – breaking the existing record of 787.

Ngannou took his turn on Gym Shark’s punch machine in London while carrying out his pre-fight media duties for the AJ clash.

This was on a separate machine and so their results are not directly comparable.

However, Ngannou barely threw his weight behind the shot and yet when he connected he effortlessly hit a maximum score of 999.

Ngannou uploaded a video to social media of his earth-shattering punch with the caption: “Who can beat my score?”

Back in 2018, Ngannou broke the world record for the hardest punch ever recorded at 129,161 units on a PowerKube, which measures the power of a punch by recording its force, accuracy and speed.

“Francis Ngannou has the world record for the most powerful punch, his punch is the equivalent to 96 horsepower which is equal to getting hit by a Ford Escort going as fast as it can,” UFC president Dana White said at the time.

“And it’s more powerful than a 12-pound sledgehammer swung full force from overhead. Holy sh*t!”

However, his record has since been broken by UFC middleweight Joe Pyfer, who landed a thudding shot that registered at 170,218 units – 31.7 per cent harder than Ngannou’s.

The true comparison of Joshua and Ngannou will of course ultimately come on March 8, when they meet in the boxing ring.

Meanwhile, the record on the punch machine at talkSPORT Towers was recently broken by an up-and-coming cruiserweight star.

Aloys Junior, Britain’s answer to Mike Tyson, demonstrated his raw power on a visit to our studios.

Junior hit a stunning score of 982 on the hanging bag to jump to pole position on our leaderboard ahead of heavy-handed heavyweight Johnny Fisher.

Francis Ngannou’s coach has warned Anthony Joshua that a fight with the former UFC star ‘isn’t for the weak’ due to his ‘ungodly power’.

The two men are set to meet on March 8, with millions from all over the world primed to tune in.

Joshua goes into the fight on a high having beaten the likes of Otto Wallin, Robert Helenius and Jermaine Franklin Jr over the past year.

Yet Ngannou will be looking to continue his brilliant start to his boxing career, having pushed Tyson Fury all the way when they met back in October.

And his coach, Dewey Cooper, has now sent a chilling warning to Joshua by saying he’ll be facing a man with ‘ungodly power’.

“As far as his punching power, no that was something that he naturally had,” he told The Sun when discussing Ngannou’s stunning rise to the top.

“He dug sand mines as a kid all the way up to his early 20s.

“Of course, his DNA, his Cameroonian heritage and that hard manual labour as a kid all the way up, I feel was the main attribute to that ungodly power.”

Ngannou’s punching power was once tested and found to be the equivalent to 96 horse power.

To put that into perspective, it means receiving a punch from the French-Cameroonian star is like being hit by a moving Ford Escort.

And Cooper has admitted coaching Ngannou isn’t for the ‘weak or meek’, revealing he himself has sustained injuries in training.

“I had to change my body shield three or four different times because he was killing me,” he continued.

“I was going home with injured ribs all the time but I finally got a really good body pad – and it still hurts even now.

“But I’m just barley tough enough to take it. Remember, coaching Francis Ngannou isn’t for the weak or the meek.

“The saying, ‘It felt like he got hit by a bus’, I feel that every training session, I’m used to it now.

“It’s gigantic power, it’s enormous power and that’s gonna be on display March 8th and that’s for damn sure.”

Eyebrows were raised when the fight between Joshua and Ngannou was announced.

Joshua had previously aimed digs at Fury for choosing to fight the former UFC star.

And Johnny Nelson thinks AJ’s career could be ‘in tatters’ if he’s unable to come out on top out in the Middle East.

“Common sense is risk-reward. For me, the risk way outweighs the reward,” he told Sky Sports News.

“If Joshua somehow loses to Ngannou, that is it – credibility is gone, career is in tatters, and it is a lot of rebuilding.

“How is he ever going to get his head around losing to Ngannou? The risk is far too high, why would you?

“You’ve got no excuse to lose to this guy. He’s had one professional boxing match.

“If you lose to him, all the Olympics, all the success, being two-time heavyweight champion, it is all gone, it has gone up in smoke because that is what you remember, you lost to a guy who had one previous fight before you.

“The risk far outweighs the reward. To me, common sense, I wouldn’t do it.

“Business-wise, I wouldn’t do it, but Ngannou has got himself into a position where you cannot ignore him.”

He continued: “Joshua, he needs to get these wins, the pride he has.

“To possibly lose to Ngannou, how would he be able to lift himself mentally, never mind how the press will crucify him?

“So, he understands what he has got to do – and I suppose we all do.”

ANTHONY JOSHUA has fans already feeling sorry for Francis Ngannou after giving an inside look into his training camp.

Joshua returns on March 8 in Saudi Arabia against Ngannou, who only made his boxing debut in October against Tyson Fury.

And he has been preparing for the crossover bout at new trainer Ben Davison’s gym in Harlow.

AJ uploaded a snap in all black with a menacing look on his face – leaving some fans fearing the worst for Ngannou.

One said: “I really feel bad for that Francis guy cause you’re ready.”

Another added: “I feel bad for Francis he will feel the heat.”

One agreed: “Those eyes say it all.”

Joshua, 34, stopped Otto Wallin, 32, in five rounds in his last fight in December, his first under coach Davison.

Meanwhile Ngannou, 35, dropped Fury, 37, on his boxing debut but lost a controversial split-decision.

It was still enough for him to earn the bout with AJ, filling in for Deontay Wilder, 38, after the American lost to Joseph Parker, 32.

Many were shocked by Ngannou’s performance and knockdown of Fury – but not Joshua.

He said during a DAZN face to face: “I think if I box Tyson Fury a lot of similarities will happen in the fight so I am not surprised at all in terms of his style, who Fury is, it’s just a boxing match.

“Well done to both of them, they put on an entertaining fight but that’s in the past. That’s how boxing is, and we move forward now.”

Joshua is hoping to get an undisputed world title shot with wins against Francis Ngannou and Filip Hrgovic but Eddie Hearn thinks it could come even sooner

Anthony Joshua is hoping wins against Francis Ngannou and Filip Hrgovic will set up an undisputed world title fight.

Joshua looks to pick up where he left off last year when he fights former UFC champion Ngannou on March 8 in Saudi Arabia. The fight was supposed to be taking place just a few weeks after Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk’s undisputed clash, but Fury suffered a cut in training and the fight has been pushed back to May 18.

The winner of Joshua vs Ngannou was promised a shot at the undisputed belts but that won’t take place until next year as Fury and Usyk have to fight twice. Matchroom Boxing boss Eddie Hearn thinks there is a chance that Joshua could jump the line for a fight against Fury if both Brits win their upcoming fights.

“The timing worked perfectly for AJ to stop Ngannou and for Fury to win. We appreciate there’s this fight and this rematch, but you know how things are going to go. Come on, you know how His Excellency moves. When the biggest fight in the history of the sport is in front of you to make I’m sure as hell find a way to keep everybody happy and make that fight but it’s irrelevant right now,” he told iFL TV.

“We need that fight to happen and now that fight is happening two months after our fight. So it sounds more likely that if AJ if triumphant will fight Filip Hrgovic for a world title, which is fine and then we’ll fight the winner of Fury vs Usyk. AJ is just like ‘Sign me up to everything, I’m going to beat everyone.’ Fury recently outlined his five-fight wishlist that included potential doubleheader against Joshua and Hearn admitted that he wants ‘The Gypsy King’ to stay in boxing for as long as possible. “I love to hear this. Boxing would be a worse or weaker place without Tyson Fury, keep him in the sport,” Hearn added.

“This is what I told you, he’s got the bit between his teeth. Good, I like seeing Tyson Fury like that. Good luck to him, he says two Usyk fights but I believe there’ll be one. I love it, music to my ears. Guess what, Hrgovic is going to knock Ngannou out and beat Hrgovic if that’s what he’s got to do. Then he’s going to knockout Tyson Fury.”