Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou: Full card results
'Knockout Chaos' headlined by Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou lived up to its name in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as the Brit delivered a dominant performance against the former UFC heavyweight champion. Here's a recap of the full fight card results.
Francis Ngannou vs. Anthony Joshua
Returning to the ring after a close decision loss to Tyson Fury, Francis Ngannou faced the former unified heavyweight champion in Joshua in a highly anticipated clash. However, the fight ended abruptly in the second round.
Joshua landed a powerful right hand in the first round, sending Ngannou to the canvas. Ngannou struggled to recover, and Joshua capitalized with two more knockdowns in the second round, forcing the referee to stop the fight at 2:38.
Watch the video highlights here.
This victory propels Joshua back into the heavyweight title conversation, while Ngannou suffered his second professional boxing defeat.
Zhilei Zhang vs Joseph Parker
The co-main event featured a thrilling battle for the WBO interim heavyweight title between Zhilei Zhang and Joseph Parker.
Parker displayed resilience, overcoming two knockdowns, in the third and eighth rounds. Despite the setbacks, Parker's superior footwork, activity, and precise punches secured him a narrow majority decision win (114-112, 115-111, 113-113).
Watch the video highlights here.
With this win, Parker becomes the WBO interim heavyweight champion and earns a mandatory rematch against Zhang. He is also the WBO mandatory challenger for Oleksandr Usyk's WBA, IBF, and WBO heavyweight world titles.
Rey Vargas vs Nick Ball
WBC featherweight champion Rey Vargas faced a tough challenge against #1 contender Nick Ball in a twelve-round title fight. Vargas started strong, controlling the first half of the fight with his height advantage.
However, the tide turned in the second half as Ball found his rhythm. Ball landed three knockdowns in rounds seven, eight, and eleven, but it wasn't enough to dethrone Vargas. The judges ultimately scored the fight a draw (114-112 Vargas, 116-110 Ball, 113-113),
Check out the rest of the undercard below:
Israil Madrimov def. Magomed Kurbanov via fifth-round TKO
Mark Chamberlain def. Gavin Gwynne via fourth-round TKO
Justis Huni def. Kevin Lerena via unanimous decision (96-94, 96-94, 98-92)
Louis Greene def. Jack McGann via first-round TKO
Roman Fury def. Martin Svarc via unanimous decision (39-37)
Ziyad Almaayouf def. Christian Lopez Flores via unanimous decision (60-54)
Andrii Novytski def. Juan Torres via third-round TKO