Francis Ngannou has no regrets about fighting Anthony Joshua.
Earlier this month, Ngannou made his second professional boxing appearance when he faced Anthony Joshua in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It was a disaster. He was brutally knocked out in the second round after being dropped twice.
In the aftermath, some suggested this outcome should have happened when Ngannou faced Tyson Fury in 2023, when he nearly pulled off one of the most improbable upsets in boxing history.
Ngannou said it was an unusually off night for him, but looking back, he knows he did everything he could to be successful, so everything is okay.
“That's one thing that also helped me stay OK. As far as training camp, I had a great training camp,” Ngannou said. “I was in great shape. The best. Even if I had to do this all over again, I don't think I would have had to do anything different. We had a good training camp in Riyadh and , everything went well except for the day of the game, when the situation was very strange.”
While Ngannou may not be able to pinpoint exactly what happened, others were willing to weigh in. Some suggested that Ngannou's success against Tyson Fury was evidence of Fury watching over him, rather than Ngannou's own ability.
Along these lines, Ngannou's critics blamed his decision to go southpaw in the first round, which ultimately led to the first knockdown, as “The Predator” was too much in front of an elite boxer. He pointed out that this was a sign of his lack of experience. But Ngannou disagrees.
“I have no regrets,” he said. “Now that we lost the game, I can say anything I did wrong. We worked on everything and everything went well. This was all mine [choice]. Even as a southpaw, his defense is sharper than the orthodox one. For southpaws, hitting from the right backhand is something that never happens in sparring, and I have practiced it many times.
“So I don't really have any regrets. It was our training and we improved everything. I don't really have any regrets. We worked towards it, we made the decisions and we made the decisions. I support him. … With the same southpaw, I think we basically won the fight against Tyson.”
Still, the loss changed perspectives, and not just among Ngannou's critics. After the knockout, some MMA celebrities suggested that Ngannou could lose to Joshua in an MMA bout, while others simply wanted him to quit boxing.
To Ngannou, none of that matters. He plans to continue pursuing his passion without worrying about other people's opinions.
“That doesn't bother me,” he said. “We've been here so many times talking about drama and what people think and what people say, and I think we've reached a point where we're not so influenced by what people say.” I don't really care what people say. Because they always have something to say. But I also think this was exactly what was expected. If I was treated wrong, I think everything that happened was meant to undo this. Anyway, I was neglecting the system a bit. ”
