Eddie Hearn says he’s “Scared” of what may happen to Anthony Joshua in his fight with Francis Ngannou on February 17th in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Although Hearn says he sees former two-time heavyweight champion Joshua (27-3, 24 KOs) beating Ngnnou (0-1), he feels frightened about the possibility of AJ getting beaten by the big puncher, who came within an eyelash of defeating “the best heavyweight in the world” Tyson Fury last October.
Financial Feathers RuffledÂ
Just think of all the money that would go down the drain if Joshua gets smashed by Ngannou. It took Hearn a long time to rebuild AJ after his last defeat, and he might be unable to pull off that trick again.
Hearn is probably genuinely worried about Joshua. After all, AJ is his golden goose, and he wouldn’t want to see him get plucked by Ngannou.
Joshua already lost to the career fringe contender Andy Ruiz Jr. in 2019, and if he loses to that type of fighter, he can undoubtedly get beaten by Ngannou.
Ngannou: A Credible Threat To Joshua?
“AJ takes this seriously. He knows how strong Ngannou is. He knows he can punch. The biggest asset that Ngannou has is mental. He has no fear of Joshua,” said Eddie Hearn to Boxing Social, talking up the March 8th clash between Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
“He’ll [Ngannou] walk him down and throw with him. Listen, I believe he’ll [Joshua] stop him, and I believe he wins comfortably. I’m also quite scared. You want jeopardy, right?
“His one fight in his pro career is Tyson Fury. His second fight is Anthony Joshua. He’s making a lot of money. Good luck to him. Let’s just have a clear head.
“A guy that has never had a professional fight fighting the best heavyweight in the world in his debut,” said Hearn about Ngannou fighting WBC champion Tyson Fury last October. “It should have been a complete mismatch, but Ngannou somehow produced a wonderful performance.
“Fury was poor, and he should have, could have, or nearly lost. He got dropped. He looked petrified. So, now the fight [Joshua vs. Ngannou] becomes credible,” said Hearn, justifying choosing Ngannou as Joshua’s next opponent rather than a more deserving, highly-ranked contender like Zhilei Zhang, Jared Anderson, or Filip Hrgovic.