Francis Ngannou vowed to come back from ‘a bad day at the office’ after he was brutally knocked out by Anthony Joshua.

‘AJ’ floored his opponent in the first round with a right hand to the chin then again early in the second with a right-left hook combination.

The former UFC champion got to his feet but was quickly put back down by a strong right hand, after which the referee put a stop to the contest.

Afterwards he posted on X: ‘Sorry guys I let you all down.

‘Today was a bad day in the office but tomorrow will be another day.

Anthony Joshua saw off Francis Ngannou in just two rounds with an explosive knockout

Referee put a stop to the contest after the former UFC champion was floored for a third time

‘Thank you all for the love.’

The 37-year-old, who performed well in losing narrowly on points to WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury in what had been his only previous fight, started brightly again in Riyadh, holding his own well for much of the first round.

He was put on the canvas by Joshua with about a minute to go in the round, beating the count at nine and making it back to his feet to see out the final 40 seconds.

However, when he was knocked down again in the second round there appeared to be little chance of Ngannou continuing, and after struggling back up he was quickly knocked out by a big right hand to put an end to the contest in Joshua’s favour.

Ngannou required oxygen in the ring as he was attended to by medics in the immediate aftermath, before recovering to leave the ring unaided.

Afterwards Joshua said Ngannou should continue in boxing.

‘You’re an inspiration,’ Joshua said.

‘You’ll beat a lot of people. Don’t leave boxing. Don’t leave boxing.

‘If you need anything, let me know, but we’ll speak another time.’