Fury was ringside to watch and applaud as Joshua out-boxed Ngannou with the performance of a heavyweight champion.

In the wee hours of Saturday morning, Anthony Joshua was at Francis Ngannou’s feet during the second round of their bout in Riyadh.

Joshua just cast a downward glance; there was no joyous dance of relief or celebration—it was all business.

After Ngannou was knocked down for the third fight by Joshua, the former UFC champion remained still. He was unconscious and needed to be attended to in the ring.

For Anthony Joshua, it was the only outcome in a battle he had to win. A shabby, unsightly points victory would have done little to improve his standing. The knockout was necessary.

Joshua has to defeat Ngannou with flair in order to protect his boxing legacy and battle for his future. When he did, it was ruthless, icy, and calculated.

Ngannou had come into the ring with a smile on his face, full of confidence that his transition from being the UFC champion to a formidable boxing challenger had gone well. The storyline for the whole week centered around the straightforward question: what if he catches Joshua clean? Last October, he lost on points over ten rounds, but he also defeated Tyson Fury in his first-ever boxing bout. Joshua was his hand-picked second opponent. Few people were posing the question backwards.

Joshua gave Ngannou no opportunity from the opening bell, which rang at around 3:30 in the morning Saudi time. Not even one. From the beginning, Ngannou had trouble keeping up with Joshua’s speed and precision. A couple wild, sweeping hooks from Ngannou were missed, and Joshua effortlessly pushed Ngannou around the ring. It was champion versus naive rookie.

Ngannou was knocked down three times by Joshua.

The first knockdown was a classic; Ngannou blocked a move that Joshua thought was coming with a hand, and Joshua answered with a textbook straight right. Joshua shifted his shoulder. Due to both his own ignorance and Joshua’s strength, Ngannou was lying in a heavy heap. The ring gave way. Joshua seemed cool and collected, while Ngannou appeared both offended and perplexed. The first round has 45 seconds remaining.

Ngannou appeared wobbly as he made his way back to his unhappy corner despite having survived the round. It was difficult to fit the larger stall beneath him. Ngannou seemed surprised and it appeared disorganized.

When the second round began, Joshua kept his composure, allowing his jab work, shifting his feet, and forcing Ngannou to miss. Ngannou was losing to Joshua due to his basic boxing abilities, and Ngannou was clueless on what to do. He was aware of it.

Ngannou was dropped again with around fifty seconds remaining; it was a straight right. At that time, there was a basis for a pause. Ngannou need defense; the guy who they thought was impervious to harm was standing but not thinking clearly.

When referee Ricky Gonzalez signaled “fight,” Ngannou was left sitting duck, shattered but still upright, his legs limp and senses dulled. Joshua just crossed the ring, planted his feet, and made a clean connection with the finest right cross of his life. Even before Ngannou touched the canvas, he was unconscious; Joshua only lifted his arms as the paramedics arrived. It’d been a victory. It was the second round at 2:38. It was around four in the morning, actual time.

Joshua intends to compete twice more in this year, and Ngannou will think about his boxing career. And Tyson Fury cheered from ringside. He said to me at first light, “Styles make fights.” And in the boxing match, that is accurate. Oleksandr Usyk, who has defeated Joshua twice, will square off against Fury in May for all four titles. Boxing’s basic tenet is that styles decide contests.

One day, the biggest and richest bout in boxing history may be between Joshua and Fury. The greatest Joshua of all time demonstrated in Riyadh why he is a constant threat. Ringside, Fury got a close-up, intimate look at the guy he would eventually have to face.