Israel Adesanya was left distressed after Joshua demolished Ngannou: ‘That was vicious’

The former undisputed middleweight champion, Nigeria-born Israel Adesanya was left distraught and scratching his head following Friday night’s shocking knockout loss for close-friend and fellow former UFC heavyweight titleholder, Francis Ngannou – at the vicious hands of fellow Nigeria-born boxing supremo, Anthony Joshua in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Ngannou, a former undisputed heavyweight champion under the banner of the Dana White-led UFC, made his sophomore outing in the boxing ring overnight in the Middle East – following a tremendous performance en route to defeat against WBC best, Tyson Fury last August at the same venue.

However, seeing the curtain draw – potentially definitely on his naive boxing career Friday night, Cameroonian berserker, Ngannou was both dropped and stopped for the first time in his professional combat sports tenure overnight, with Joshua flattening the former UFC kingpin with a hellacious finish in the second round.

Felled in the first with a piston-like right hand straight from Joshua, Ngannou was then caught with a check left hook in the second, sending him briefly to the canvas once more.

However, immediately back on his feet, Ngannou was stretched to the floor for a third and ultimately final time, completely unconscious in spectacular fashion.

And claiming he let fans and friends down in his shocking knockout loss, it looks to be back to the drawing board for Ngannou – who is expected to make his PFL (Professional Fighters League) debut later this year in a showcase with recent super fight champion, Renan Ferreira.

Sharing his thoughts on Ngannou’s staggering knockout loss to Joshua in the Middle East, Adesanya was left awestruck in the immediate aftermath of the bout.

“Ah, man – f*cking cold, ah man, damn,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel. “He’s (Francis Ngannou) okay. That second one [knockdown] was bad, but that third one [knockdown]. You could see it in his face – ‘cause the first one he was fine, that was a flash [knockdown].