Anthony Joshua was strangely relaxed after ruthlessly taking out Francis Ngannou.
The former two-time heavyweight boxing champion made it look easy as he floored Ngannou twice before knocking him out cold in the second round of their fight in March.
AJ is in great form of late, scoring four straight wins since his defeats to UsykMark Robinson/Matchroom
Ngannou dropped and went the distance with Tyson Fury in December 2023 – but Joshua made him look like the boxing novice he was when they clashed at ‘Knockout Chaos’.
After becoming the first man to stop the ex-UFC titleholder in any sport, AJ had an ice-cold reaction when talkSPORT host Ade Oladipo raved about his finishing punch.
“That was an absolutely incredible performance,” Oladipo said.
“And that is the biggest right hand I think I have ever seen live in a boxing ring.”
Joshua’s nonchalant reply earned cheers from those inside the arena.
“It is what it is,” he said with a cheeky grin to a huge ovation.
Joshua’s win over Ngannou made it four in a row since he lost back-to-back fights against Oleksandr Usyk, who has since gone on to beat Fury and become the king of heavyweights.
As they prepare to battle it out for the WBO, WBA, and WBC titles in a rematch on December 21, Joshua will try to become a three-time heavyweight world champion.
The 34-year-old takes on Daniel Dubois in London on Saturday night.
‘Dynamite’ picked up a career-best win over Filip Hrgovic in June and was rewarded with the IBF title when Usyk decided to vacate the belt ahead of his rematch with Fury.
Joshua obliterated Ngannou with the perfect punchGetty
And then he gave a five-word reactionDAZN
Dubois will make his first defence against Joshua in front of 96,000 fans at Wembley Stadium, in a fight that will most likely see the winner face Usyk or Fury in 2025.
Meanwhile, Ngannou is preparing to make his long-awaited return to MMA.
‘The Predator’ hasn’t fought in his first sport since outpointing Ciryl Gane to retain his UFC heavyweight title in January 2022.
Since then, he’s left Dana White’s league following a long contract dispute, signed an MMA deal with PFL and made tens of millions in boxing.
Ngannou will return to the cage in Saudi Arabia on October 19.
Rennan Ferreira, a 6ft 8in Brazilian knockout artist will welcome him back to MMA during an event dubbed ‘PFL Super Fights: Battle of the Giants’.
A return to boxing is not off the table, but for now, Ngannou is fully focused on continuing his terrific run in MMA and showing off the skills that made him famous.
talkSPORT will bring you exclusive live commentary of the heavyweight clash at Wembley Stadium between Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois on Saturday, September 21. Download the talkSPORT app here.
