Chinese heavyweight Zhang Zhilei floors Joseph Parker twice yet loses, before Anthony Joshua knocks out Francis Ngannou
- ‘Big Bang’ Zhang knocks down Parker twice on the Joshua-Ngannou undercard in Riyadh, but judges back the New Zealander by majority decision
- Joshua blitzes Ngannou, flooring him in first and second rounds before ending it with a huge right, in front of a watching Tyson Fury
Chinese heavyweight boxer Zhang Zhilei suffered a setback to his world title hopes as he lost to Joseph Parker on points in Saudi Arabia, before Anthony Joshua knocked out Francis Ngannou in the night’s main event.
“Big Bang” Zhang knocked Parker down twice but did not do enough as the bout wore on and a majority decision went Parker’s way, the judges scoring it 113-113, 114-112, 115-111.
Instead, it was Joshua who supplied the explosives, demolishing Ngannou in stunning style. He floored the Cameroonian with a big right in the first round, repeated the trick in the second, then when Ngannou just beat the count, immediately knocked him out cold.
It drew a nod of approval from the watching Tyson Fury, who was himself knocked down by Ngannou before scraping a controversial split-decision win in the former UFC champion’s only previous boxing bout.
Facing New Zealand’s Parker on the undercard in Riyadh, the 40-year-old Zhang was celebrating in the third round when he put his opponent on the canvas.
