FRANCIS NGANNOU woke up the morning of his showdown with Anthony Joshua with a sneaking suspicion he’d lose the fight.
The former UFC heavyweight champion locked horns with AJ in a lucrative Saudi showdown early on Saturday morning.
GETTYFrancis Ngannou locked horns with Anthony Joshua in Saudi Arabia this weekend[/caption]
GettyThe former UFC heavyweight champion suffered a brutal second-round KO loss to AJ[/caption]
GETTYNgannou admits he into the fight thinking that he’d lose[/caption]
Ngannou, 37, shocked the world in his professional boxing debut last October with a stellar display against WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.
But he was brutally brought back down to earth by AJ, who knocked him out in the second round of their Saudi showdown
He told SecondsOut: “I’m not going to take anything away from Anthony Joshua, he did a great job.
“I think even if I was different, I think maybe things may have still been the same.
“But this wasn’t my day. I woke up this morning and felt like this wasn’t my day.”
Despite suffering the first knockdowns and knockout of his 11-year-long combat sports career, Ngannou has no plans to walk away from boxing.
When asked if he plans to return to the ring, the Cameroonian clubber said: “Absolutely.
“Right now I feel like I have an obligation to continue because it owes me now.
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GettyFrancis Ngannou insists his boxing days aren’t over[/caption]
“I think boxing owes me now and I really intend to collect.”
Former two-time unified heavyweight champ Joshua believes Ngannou still has a lot to offer in boxing.
In his post-fight interview, he said: “On the route to the championship you should always stay focused and I had to step away from the mission.
“I thought it was just a gimmick for the broadcasters.
“When I saw the fight with Tyson Fury I thought damn this guy can fight, I want a piece of that.
“I wanted to welcome him and this does not take anything away from him, he can come again.
“I am still learning and pushing, I don’t know if I am coming into my peak, if that was me down there you would be saying ‘Anthony Joshua should retire’.
“In five years I will be finished fighting and sitting down and all this will be a distant memory.
“I am going to go back and lock myself in my cage and they can let me out when they want me to fight. I just want to fight.”