Vicious

Wow. That was scary power and venom from Anthony Joshua. Really scary.

Francis Ngannou is down and out for a good while with the medics surrounding him. Thankfully he manages to sit up after a few minutes.

He's now sat on his stool receiving some oxygen.

Anthony Joshua vs Francis Ngannou - Round one

Here we go!

Francis Ngannou starts with a long left hook inside the opening ten seconds while AJ prods a fairly unthreatening jab to the body.

Good right hand to the body from Ngannou too, shortly after having thrown about three left hooks that AJ does well to avoid.

Knockdown!

AJ with a straight right down the pipe and the former MMA heavyweight champion is floored! Clocked him. Textbook. Ngannou takes his time getting to his feet and darts straight back into action in a frenzy.

Joshua showed good patience no to rush in to try and finish the job. Could have been dangerous.

Intros

Michael Buffer is just thanking everyone that's ever lived before introducing the fighters... Always an incredibly laborious task -- Ngannou's been in there for ten minutes by now.

Ring walks

Francis Ngannou has entered the ring, wearing a snazzy pink robe. It's a fairly low-key entrance given the money and build-up involved.

AJ follows shortly after in his white robe. He looks focused but not exactly relaxed as the pyrotechnics go off. Both men are now in the ring.

Won't be long until this is underway, folks.

"F--- it, why not?"

Tyson Fury and Eddie Hearn have just been interviewed on DAZN. They are looking knackered to be fair - it is 3am out in Saudi.

Aske for their predictions, Hearn thought it would be an Anthony Joshua win in the later rounds - perhaps between 7-9.

Tyson Fury was more conclusive.

Fury said: "I'm going wildcard. I'm going AJ to win in the first. F--- it, why not? Backing the Brit all the way. Take it home son!"

"It’s a great win"

Jospeh Parker told DAZN: "It’s a great win. I feel I am on the up right now. Zhang is a tough man but my team just kept telling me to follow the plan.

"Now I want to go home and celebrate and then we will come back and do the rematch."

Rematch

Jospeh Parker is now the WBO interim champion. The Kiwi also revealed that there is a rematch clause, so these two will be running it back at some point this year.

That a contest you'd like to see again? Not 100% how much Zhilei Zhang has left in the tank in all honesty. The one-punch stuff is great, but there's not an awful lot more.

STILL TO COME

One left. The big one.

• Anthony Joshua vs Francis Ngannou - 00:20

RESULTS

• Zhilei Zhang bt Joseph Parker on points
• Rey Vargas vs Nick Ball - split draw
• Israil Madrimov bt Magomed Kurbanov by TKO
• Mark Chamberlain bt Gavin Gwynne by TKO
• Justis Huni bt Kevin Lerena on points

Sleepy

The crowd is fairly flat but it is approaching 3am in Saudi Arabia.

Zhilei Zhang vs Joseph Parker - Round 12

"You've got to go. We need a knockout," says Zhilei Zhang's trainer. Let's see if he's listened…

Time ticking away and we've not seen anything from either fighter. 90 seconds remaining.

Well I don't want to sound ungrateful but that last round was a complete damp squib from Zhang's perspective. Barely threw a punch with Parker dictating things from the first second to the last.

We go to the judges scorecards.

Zhilei Zhang vs Joseph Parker - Round 11

"He's dangerous for the first 30 seconds, and then he does nothing," says Joseph Parker's trainer in the corner.

We're in the Championship rounds, folks. Didn't think we would make it here. Lot of scorecards have this as dead even.

It's smart boxing from Parker. Sharp hands, quick feet and changing levels constantly - he looks better now than he did at the start of the fight. Not much coming back, Zhang's knackered.

Zhilei Zhang vs Joseph Parker - Round 10

This is going to be another tight finish. Zhang has the two 10-8 rounds with the knockdowns but many of the other rounds were extremely close - and a few clearly in Parker's favour.

It's like Zhang is waiting for his energy to rebuild for a few rounds after connecting. Parker is far busier, chipping away and jabbing nicely. The crowd getting a bit restless - I think they want Big Bang to get swinging.

Zhilei Zhang vs Joseph Parker - Round nine

You would normally expect a fighter to throw the kitchen sink at their opponent after scoring a knockdown - but Zhilei Zhang is having none of it. He's still biding his time and trying to keep something in the tank for the championship rounds.

No doubt about it, the ninth round is in Parker's pocket. He threw a series of nice left hooks over the top with very little in replay other than a couple of body shots.

Zhilei Zhang vs Joseph Parker - Round eight

Big right from Joseph Parker! He put everything he had into that shot and Zhilei Zhang certainly felt it. What can Zhang do about this now?

Knockdown! That's what he can do!

Zhang earns himself another knockdown with a seemingly innocuous left jab and right hook. It genuinely looks like he's lightly touching his opponent but it was clearly very damaging.

Parker gets back to his feet and, much like the third round, gets back to business.

Zhilei Zhang vs Joseph Parker - Round seven

Mike Costello think the knockdown worked in Joseph Parker's favour. 1) Zhilei Zhang got complacent and thought he'd be able to replicate it later on. 2) It gave Parker a real sense of urgency and refocused him.

Anyway, Parker's had the better of this round. Changing levels nicely and connecting with a few simple jabs and one-two combinations. Zhang looks at the clock and takes a deep inhale as the bell rings.

Zhilei Zhang vs Joseph Parker - Round six

Does Zhilei Zhang know something we don't?

He's being awfully causal considering Joseph Parker is now marginally on top. Zhang is averaging around three power punches each round.

Perhaps the Chinese star is trying to conserve some energy into the later rounds, but it's allowing Parker to keep his distance, throw two or three punches and then win the round.

It's a little drab truth be told.

Zhilei Zhang vs Joseph Parker - Round five

Well I've absolutely no idea how Joseph Parker recovered from that knockdown. For most that would have been goodnight but that warrior spirit really is showing.

Zhang perhaps guilty of getting complacent -- he's not really laid a glove on the Kiwi since the third round.

It's been a fairly even fifth round. It's smash and grab for Parker -- quite similar to his tactics against Wilder last year. As for Zhang, he's simply not throwing anything -- knockout or bust for the big man.

Zhilei Zhang vs Joseph Parker - Round four

And again Zhilei Zhang catches Joseph Parker with a lead right hook that wobbles him. The Kiwi also having some trouble breathing - he's trying to blow the blood out of his nose.

Bang! What's this? Parker really is as tough as nails. He's taken a hiding but he returns with a huge right that stuns Zhang. It didn't floor the Chinese fighter but no doubt that did some damage.

We're seeing some chaos, and a knockout doesn't feel far away...

Zhilei Zhang vs Joseph Parker - Round three

"It's alright, one round each. He's going to slow and slow and slow," says Joseph Parker's trainer in the corner. I think he's probably nailed that analysis.

It's still quite tentative start from both men. Parker stepping on the outside and throwing a few body shots.

Knockdown! Wow! He's barely thrown a punch but completely floors Parker on the chin and the Kiwi drops to the deck!

Parker has beaten the count with 20 seconds left on the clock and he's doing his level-best to stay out of danger. Parker needs the bell as Zhang cracks him with another down the pipe.

Ding Ding. The bell saves Parker on this occasion, but how on earth is he going to recover before the third round?!