Francis Ngannou to lose top 10 heavyweight ranking after brutal Anthony Joshua knockout

14/03/2024 18:33

Francis Ngannou will drop out of the WBC top 10 rankings after his devastating knockout loss to Anthony Joshua.

The Cameroonian MMA star was given a No.10 rating by the major sanctioning body after an impressive debut against WBC world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury last October.

Ngannou lost the nip and tuck affair via split decision but his performance left a lasting impression on the WBC ratings committee, who slotted him in one place ahead of Martin Bakole.

However, after being dispatched in two rounds by AJ on Friday night his stock has fallen – and so will his ranking, according to WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman.

“Yeah, [he will drop] from the top 10 certainly because he was knocked out in two rounds,” Sulaiman told talkSPORT.com.

“I do not regret ranking him. He had a sensational outing against the WBC champion and he has a history behind him in mixed martial arts, which is a criterion for the WBC in rankings.

“As I have explained Muay Thai fighters are immediately ranked in the WBC, mostly from Thailand. Joshua looked phenomenal, Ngannou looked surprised.

“He got caught early and could not recover from the next knockdown. But to use an analogy, in 1971, Joe Frazier knocked down Ali and beat him for the first time.

“In the next fight, George Foreman knocks Frazier down seven times and knocks him out in two rounds.

“Does that erase Joe Frazier’s performance against Ali?”

Pressed on whether Ngannou would remain in the WBC’s top 40 ratings, Sulaiman replied: “I don’t know, that’s a matter for the ratings committee.

“If it was my decision, I would support him to still be in the top 40 rankings.

“I think we all could see him fighting anyone and still be competitive and possibly winning against rated fighters.

“So we’ll see what the ratings committee decides in the next couple of days.”

At the time of writing, Joshua is ranked No.1 with the WBC, with Frank Sanchez placed at No.2 and Joseph Parker at No.3.

The official rankings will be updated in full at some point in the coming days.

Last month, entries were submitted on February 20.