Francis Ngannou has nothing to be embarrassed about
By Amy Kaplan
On Friday evening Francis Ngannou was knocked out cold. The moment came during the second round of his fight with Anthony Joshua in Saudi Arabia.
The moment was jarring to see, Ngannou went down several times before finally losing consciousness and laying flatlined on the canvas.
The image of a crumbled Ngannou was a jarring reminder that boxing is not a game and only the strongest survive.
After the fight Ngannou received oxygen and was hurried from the ring without a post-fight interview. But he went to Twitter to send a message to his fans amid defeat.
"Sorry guys I let you all down," he tweeted along with a sad face emoji. "Today was a bad day in the office but tomorrow will be another day.
Thank you all for the love."
Francis Ngannou should stick to boxing, leave MMA in the dust
Many fans are calling for Ngannou to head back to MMA with his tail between his legs but that seems a little rash. After all, he's not fighting old men or washed up fighters like another man we all know (ahe, Jake Paul).
Even if this is the last time we see Ngannou in the boxing ring, it will have been a success. Ngannou held his own against Fury and secured a bag with Joshua. His record won't reflect a great investment, but his wallet and legacy sure will.
Ngannou did what no one else has. He made it to not one but two high level boxing fights and had fun doing it. He paved a path for other deserving fighters and he made MMA fans around the world so incredibly proud.
Ideally Ngannou will fight hunker down and really take boxing seriously, just like Joshua advised after the fight. Anything he does in MMA at this point isn't worth the money, no respect included. Ngannou can win a fight, if he wants it bad enough. If he gets hungry enough.