Eddie Hearn believes Anthony Joshua produced the best knockout that boxing has ever seen in his stunning win against Francis Ngannou last week.
Joshua faced Ngannou in Saudi Arabia on Friday, just four months after the former UFC heavyweight champion knocked down Tyson Fury and pushed him all the way before losing a razor-thin points decision.
But Joshua delivered a dominant performance as he knocked down Ngannou twice and then finished him with a devastating right hand that left the Cameroonian-born star requiring medical attention.
After claiming his fourth straight win in emphatic fashion, Hearn feels Joshua has put himself back at the top of the heavyweight division, and admits even he was shocked by how easy the Brit made it look.
‘A performance that [sent] shockwaves around the world as the No1 heavyweight on the planet, displayed ferocity and superstardom,’ Joshua’s promoter told iFL TV as he summed up Joshua’s display.
Anthony Joshua left Francis Ngannou out cold after delivering a devastating right hand
Eddie Hearn believes it was the best knockout ‘since the birth of boxing’
Hearn has claimed Joshua has re-established himself as the world’s No1 heavyweight
‘Some say knockout of the year. I say knockout since the birth of boxing. I thought we’d stop him, but I thought it would come a bit later on. It was a great performance.’
Joshua is a two-time world champion, but was beaten twice by Oleksandr Usyk in 2021 and 2022 as he relinquished his titles.
After the second defeat to the Ukrainian, Joshua was unable to keep his emotions in check as he threw the belts out of the ring, went on a bizarre post-fight rant and cried in his press conference.
Some wondered whether he could ever get back to his very best, and there were even calls for him to retire, but Joshua has had a remarkable resurgence to put himself in the mix for a title shot against the winner of Fury and Usyk when they finally fight each other in May.
Hearn has hailed the mental strength that Joshua has shown to overcome adversity and prove that he is still one of the best heavyweights on the planet.
Hearn praised AJ for his stunning comeback after being a ‘broken man’ following his second loss to Oleksandr Usyk
‘The comeback for Anthony Joshua is unbelievable. I’m talking about the mental comeback,’ Hearn continued.
‘I’m talking about the comeback from criticism. I’m talking about the comeback to form. Should he retire now, or is he the best heavyweight in the world? It’s one of the two.
‘So, what this guy has done to come back to the position he’s in is unbelievable. Like a broken man after the second Usyk fight, searching for answers, searching for form. He has worked so hard to find it.
‘He never stopped believing. He never stopped working. He’s a hell of a boy, AJ.’
