This major loss badly damaged Ngannou’s status in boxing, especially since his debut show against Tyson Fury had been quite successful. Before taking up boxing, Ngannou was a mixed martial artist. He last won against Ciryl Gane two years ago and then made the surprising move to leave the UFC.
After leaving, he started working with the PFL and trained to become a boxer. Despite his losses in boxing, it’s clear that he hasn’t left the sport completely destitute considering the decent paydays he received.
Some speculate that he may return to the octagon rather than the boxing ring following these defeats. UFC boss White has expressed that this might not be the worst idea. Speaking to reporters, he said: “You know how I feel about crossovers into boxing. That’s how they end. Just like that.”
Ngannou himself seemed pretty disappointed after being knocked out. He even shared an apology with his supporters saying: “Sorry guys I let you all down. Today was a bad day in the office but tomorrow will be another day. Thank you all for the love”.
Post-match, Joshua said he hopes Ngannou sticks around in the sport. AJ’s admiration for Ngannou stems from the latter’s impressive show against Fury. As for Ngannou, he reassured fans that he plans on sticking to the sport as well as participating in the PFL.
Joshua is now expected to take on Tyson Fury, once the heavyweight champion has his unification bout with Oleksandr Usyk this summer.
In other news, the UFC doesn’t seem to be missing Ngannou too much – Jon Jones is back and holds the heavyweight belt, while British star Tom Aspinall has the interim belt in the same weight division. The UFC is now focusing all their efforts on their 300th event in Las Vegas, following a successful event last weekend in Miami, Florida.
- This article was crafted with the help of AI tools, which speed up the Daily Express editorial research. A Daily Express editor reviewed this content before it was published. You can report any errors here
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