By Ricardo Lezama 
Anthony Joshua, the British boxing phenom, restored boxing’s dignity after knocking out Francis Ngannou in the second round. In representation of Matchroom and Riyadh’s royalty, Joshua quickly dispatched of Francis Ngannou whose survival of Tyson Fury had become a sort of embarrasment for the boxing community.
Why was the Joshua vs Ngannou Bout Important?
In October of 2023, Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou had fought to a split decision victory in favor of Tyson Fury. At the moment, Fury remains a WBC Heavyweight champion. But, the issue was that in the fight, Ngannou was able to knock him down due to his awkward punch angles and athleticism. In fact, some boxing commentators thought the Fury performance was only OK or even Ngannou won the bout, but either way, Boxing received a black eye for having one of it’s primary emissaries struggle with a converted MMA fighter.
Joshua the Redeemer
Unless one is living under a rock, the current driving force in boxing financing and promotion is Saudi royal, Turki Alalshikh, addressed as ‘his excellency’ by boxing’s community. In recent years, the royal has pressed for in demand fights to be made and explained his motivation in a broadcasted interview for DAZN.
While Anthony Joshua has struggled at times after a hard fought decision losses to Usyk and a TKO loss to Andy Ruiz in 2019, many still placed their hopes on Joshua to defeat Ngannou handily. In fights before and after his difficult losses to Oleksandr Usyk, Anthony Joshua has continued to fight but some have critiqued the apparent tepid nature of his performance. However, in his defense, the issue was more Joshua trying to redefine his craft and style.
Nonetheless, where the spotlight has been brightest and the world’s entertainment focused on just those rounds, Anthony Joshua redeemed the sport of boxing with three brutal right hands on a game and dignified opponent in Francis Ngannou.