The clash between Francis Ngannou and Anthony Joshua last month lived up to its hype but with a shocking twist. Ngannou, a heavyweight champion in the world of mixed martial arts, looked unsteady and vulnerable after being dropped twice in his fledgling professional boxing career. Joshua, the seasoned boxer and former champion, capitalized ruthlessly. Despite the early knockdowns, a flicker of hope remained for Ngannou.

But that hope was extinguished in the blink of an eye. Joshua, seizing his moment, uncorked a ferocious right hand that landed flush on Ngannou’s temple. The impact was devastating. Ngannou crumpled to the canvas, succumbing to unconsciousness as he fell. This came as a shock as his flaws went unnoticed in his boxing debut against Tyson Fury in their 2023 fight. The fight, a brutal display of power and precision, was over in a shockingly swift second round. So, what went wrong? Michael Jai White explains.

Michael Jai White reveals his reaction watching the knockout live

Actor and fight aficionado Michael Jai White offered a unique perspective on VLAD TV about Francis Ngannou’s devastating knockout loss to Anthony Joshua. White, a martial arts practitioner himself and someone who played Mike Tyson in a biopic on the heavyweight’s life highlighted a critical error made by Ngannou in the fight. White analyzed, “I think maybe because Anthony Joshua probably had much more threatening blows and jabs that caused Francis to constantly go to block. And that’s one of the things that was very different. He wasn’t doing that with Fury.”

This technical flaw, unseen against Tyson Fury, became a glaring weakness against Joshua. White emphasized the predictability of Ngannou’s movement. “You see that as somebody like Anthony Joshua is that, I do this and he opens up. He just timed it, he just went, you know, and just basically gave him that, Francis’ hand went down and then straight right (fists his palm),” White said, analyzing the technicalities that only boxers see.

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“Even if you feint, you don’t want to straighten your arm out like that. And that’s what he did… He went to go parry it. You don’t go parry it. You stay,” White explained the critical mistake that Anthony Joshua, a veteran of boxing, saw and took advantage of. He injected a touch of personal investment, describing his reaction alongside his friend, a former champion boxer when Anthony Joshua finally knocked Ngannou out.

“Myself and my boy Frankie (who’s a boxer)… we’re like, ‘Oh shoot’… We were like. we could turn this off now… Ya, he didn’t do that with Fury,” White concluded by reiterating the significance of Ngannou’s mistake.

However, Francis Ngannou doesn’t seem to have gotten demoralized by this loss, as a potential time for his next fight has been announced.

Francis Ngannou is ready to fight again

Francis Ngannou, the former UFC heavyweight champion with a thunderous right hand, is set to return to the octagon this fall. This comes after a brutal knockout loss to Anthony Joshua in a highly anticipated boxing match in March. ‘The Predator’, exited the UFC last year, looking to conquer the boxing world. However, his foray into the squared circle has been less than stellar. He suffered a controversial loss to Tyson Fury last year and most recently a devastating knockout against Joshua.

Despite his boxing woes, Ngannou appears ready to return to his MMA roots. PFL, his new promotion, has announced a potential September or October debut. “He says he is recharging. He went home to Cameroon after the [Joshua] fight. We think it will be autumn, it could be as early as September or as later as October. I think it will be one of those two, but he will be ready,” said PFL boss Donn Davis, hinting that Ngannou is refocusing after his unsuccessful boxing ventures.

So now it remains to be seen, how Francis Ngannou takes his learnings to turn things around with his upcoming MMA bout. Hopefully, he’ll bring out his KO power that everybody knows him for. Are you excited for his comeback? Tell us in the comments section.