‘The Predator’ took part in his second professional outing against Joshua in Riyadh earlier this year, but was brutally knocked out early on in their clash
Former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou has insisted ‘something unfair definitely happened’ in his boxing showdown with Anthony Joshua.
‘The Predator’ left MMA’s biggest promotion last year in pursuit of better options outside of the organisation. Ngannou decided to test his luck in the world of boxing and first went toe-to-toe with Tyson Fury. Much to the surprise of many, the Cameroonian dropped the ‘Gypsy King’ in their clash, but eventually suffered a razor-thin defeat on points.
In a bid to remain active in the sport, Ngannou returned to the ring earlier this year to take on Joshua – a two-time heavyweight world champion. While ‘The Predator’s’ showdown with Fury was tight, the dust-up with ‘AJ’ was anything but. The Brit went on to brutally dismantle the 38-year-old, scoring a knockout in the second round.
After back-to-back defeats inside the ring, Ngannou opted to return to the Octagon back in October and needed just a few minutes to secure a knockout win over Renan Ferreira. Despite his recent return to the cage, the 38-year-old has revealed he intends to return to the squared-circle, but has dismissed talks of a rematch with Joshua.
In an interview with Second’s Out, Ngannou made a sensational admission about the clash with ‘AJ.’ “A rematch with Joshua? I felt very off and not comfortable in that fight,” he said. “It’s something that could happen, but what I do know for sure is I want the rematch with [Tyson] Fury.
“I’m not a conspiracy theorist but I didn’t like the Joshua fight. Things weren’t right, and if it would be the same scenario, I’m not interested – something unfair definitely happened. I don’t have the full picture, but I have seen myself what wasn’t right. I was in the locker room for almost four hours, which is not something that happens, so just from there.”
Following the recent blockbuster heavyweight rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Fury, Ngannou once again revealed his intent to take on the ‘Gypsy King.’ “What I want to see now is Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou,” he told Pro Boxing Fans. “That’s all that matters for me.”
He added: “I think the fight was pretty close… I would have scored the fight closer than that. Maybe Usyk still wins. I mean, at the end of the fight I wasn’t sure that anybody is the winner because everybody could have been the winner. From my scorecard, it was closer than that.”
