Anthony Joshua was properly rewarded for his second-round knockout win over Cameroonian boxer Francis Ngannou in the primary occasion of the “Knockout Chaos” card in Saudi Arabia within the early hours of Saturday morning (Nigerian time).
Joshua gained his fourth straight battle with the KO victory over Ngannou in Riyadh.
After securing consecutive victories in 2023 with wins over Jermaine Franklin in April and Robert Helenius with a seventh-round knockout in August, Joshua cruised to a fifth-round technical knockout win over Otto Wallin in December, who had been anticipated to be a formidable opponent, particularly along with his southpaw stance.
Joshua has now secured knockout wins over two fighters who took Tyson Fury the space in Wallin and Ngannou.
The British-Nigerian was already readily available to get $40m (N63.7bn) for the battle however because of his win by a KO, Joshua acquired an additional $10m (N15.9bn) making a toal of $50m (N79bn) whereas Ngannou pocketed $20m (N31.8bn).
Common musican, Drake who’s accustomed to putting massive wagers on high-profile sports activities video games and shedding most of these bets was on the shedding aspect once more after Joshua defeated former UFC champion Ngannou because the Grammy winner misplaced a $615,000 (N950m).
If the wager had been profitable, the Canadian-born rapper would have gained simply lower than $2m (N3.1bn).
Drake has been often known as a curse to athletes as at any time when he bets on them, most find yourself on the shedding aspect. Due to this fact, athletes desire he doesn’t wager on them and have a good time loudly when they’re able to win regardless of him betting on them like Israel Adesanya did when he beat Pereira in 2023.
WBC heavyweight champion Fury has hailed Joshua following his victory over Ngannou with Joshua additionally expressing readiness to face the Brit after the undisputed battle towards Oleksandr Usyk.
Fury, who watched the sport, mentioned he has a ‘greater fish to fry’ towards Usky and said that he’s accessible to face Joshua after his rematch in October.
“Me and Usyk have gotten an undisputed world heavyweight championship developing. He (Joshua) simply had a present battle in Saudi Arabia, which is improbable for the present, however for the precise actual boxing, it’s me and Usyk who battle for the primary and quantity two positions for the undisputed championship of the world,” Fury mentioned.
“In order that (the battle with AJ) is on the again burner for now. Nice efficiency from AJ, improbable, however sadly I’ve acquired greater fish to fry in Usyk on Might 18, after which we’ve got a rematch in October. So, after that, if he’s nonetheless accessible and I’m nonetheless accessible, let’s get it on.”
Fury is scheduled to face Oleksandr Usyk on Might 18 in a historic, undisputed showdown, with the winner probably going through Joshua sooner or later.
Within the post-match convention, Joshua expressed readiness to face the winner of Fury vs Usyk for an opportunity again on the world heavyweight titles.
“I simply need to battle… and that subsequent battle I would like is the winner of Fury vs Usyk,” he mentioned.
