Retired former 168-lb champion Carl Froch has serious concerns for Francis Ngannou after watching him get “banjoed” in a brutal second-round knockout loss to former two-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua last Friday night in the main event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Ngannou, who is listed as 37 but some fans feel is closer to 45 years old, was knocked unconscious by a telegraphed right hand from Joshua (28-3, 25 KOs) in the second round. That knockout was the equivalent of Ngannou being in a terrible car crash, and he might be the same physically after that experience.
Joshua didn’t even attempt to disguise the right-hand finisher. He walked forward slowly, cocked his right hand, and let it fly
Limited Experience, Mounting Losses
“I don’t think he should be in a professional ring again. He’s had two fights as a professional. He’s lost to Tyson Fury, and now he’s been badly knocked out by Anthony Joshua,” said Carl Froch on the talkSPORT Boxing YouTube channel, reacting to the brutal second-round knockout the inexperienced one-fight novice Francis Ngannou suffered last Friday night in a dreadfully poor match-up against Anthony Joshua.
The Saudis keep Ngannou’s career going by throwing massive loot at him despite his lack of zero experience and his failure to win. As long as His Excellency cuts $20 million checks, Ngannou will keep fighting on these cards and continue to lose.
It’s bad for boxing fans who see this low-level circus junk as a pure joke and a waste of their money for those who purchase the cards rather than pirate them. If the sport were managed correctly, this trash wouldn’t be allowed to happen. T
here should be rules that prevent athletes from competing against upper-echelon boxers in another sport without earning the spot by working their way through learning fights to get to the contender level. The Saudis are skipping all that, allowing Ngannou to go straight to the top of the tree, and the results are brutal.
Time to Walk Away?
“He ain’t got time to build up; he’s nearly 40 years old as a pro,” Froch continued about Ngannou. “He’s made plenty of money. That was a bad knockout. It probably took a few years off his bloody life.
“He got banjoed. He was out cold before he hit the floor, and that will have some damaging effects, not just mentally but physically. That’s a bad one at that age.”