Fans slammed the atmosphere in Saudi Arabia as ‘soulless’ in the build-up to Anthony Joshua’s fight with Francis Ngannou. 

Joshua and Ngannou were headlining the ‘Knockout Chaos’ card of 10 fights at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, which was built last year. 

AJ floored Ngannou three times in a sensational opening to the fight, bringing it to a swift end in the second round.  

‘Boxing really sold their soul to Saudi. What a soulless atmosphere that is. Shocking,’ one wrote on X, formerly Twitter. 

‘They could use this Saudi boxing venue for American astronaut training because there is no atmosphere. Been noisier fight nights at Bracknell Leisure Centre,’ said sports commentator Ian Darke.

Viewers have torn into the ‘soulless’ and ‘dead’ atmosphere in Saudi Arabia for Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou’s card

‘Zero atmosphere at these Saudi boxing matches,’ wrote another. 

‘Saudi atmosphere makes me think this could be a Covid fight with no fans,’ commented another. 

The arena usually operates as the home of Al-Hilal, a Saudi Pro League football club who count Neymar among their highly paid stars. 

AJ and Ngannou were lined up to contest the co-main event on the ‘Knockout Chaos’ card, following Joseph Parker’s majority decision win over Zhilei Zhang. 

Parker survived two knockdowns from Zhang to claim the WBO interim heavyweight title.