Two of the biggest punchers in the heavyweight division meet on March 8th, with Anthony Joshua taking vs. Francis Ngannou in a ten-round contest with AJ risking his chance to fight for a world title.
The general belief is someone is getting knocked out in this fight, and it could be Joshua, who has shown vulnerability in the chin department over the years; hence, his [promoter, Eddie Hearn, has backed him away from fighting punchers in the last five years until now.
Today, Joshua & Ngannou will meet in their kickoff press conference to discuss their March 8th fight in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
All the hard work Joshua’s promoter, Hearn, has put into rebuilding his shattered career will go down the drain if he loses this fight against Ngannou (0-1).
As Hearn points out, this is a “risky fight” for Joshua, and it certainly is. Ngannou can punch, has a chin, and is fearless. Above all, Ngannou is aggressive, and that’s potentially bad news for Joshua because he’s not at his best when facing opposition coming at him in a seak & destroy mode.
That’s a product of Joshua being matched against so many fighters who never stood a chance in the first place, so they fought scared and were bombed out.
Fans Hoping Joshua Loses
Angry fans, not happy with AJ being matched against another non-hoper, are rooting for Ngannou to destroy him on March 8th because he’s become a fake, a fighter being kept at the top by his promoter Hearn’s handiwork, matching him against strictly beatable opposition.
Initially, it was thought that Joshua vs. Ngannou would be an exhibition, which would have made more sense because it’s strange to have a former two-time heavyweight world champion & 2012 Olympic gold medalist, Joshua, fighting a fighter with just one fight under his belt at the pro level. Where do you see that type of thing? Why was this fight even sanctioned?
Joshua’s last three opponents:
– Otto Wallin
– Robert Helenius
– Jermaine Franklin
A Lot of Jeopardy
“Brilliant. Ngannou became a player on October 28th with his performance against Tyson Fury. It’s a really dangerous fight for Joshua. There’s a lot of jeopardy in it because if he’s not aggressive, rumbustious, tenacious, and doesn’t command the fight, it’s a very tough ten rounds against Francis Ngannou,” said Gareth A. Davies to Boxing News about Anthony Joshua’s fight against former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.
It’s not so much jeopardy for Ngannou because he has a built-in excuse if he loses this fight. He’s 0-1, with experience in the pro game limited to a fight against an out-of-shape Tyson Fury last October, who seemed to treat it like a sparring match rather than a real contest.
“I think Joshua does it. Can he knock Ngannou out, or is he going to have to go the distance?” said Gareth. “We don’t know. It’s an amazing fight. I’ve always said not to call Fury & Ngannou an exhibition.
“It was always going to be dangerous for ten minutes, Ngannou, and he did it in the eighth minute, and he believed in himself. He’s got a great team. Maybe Mike Tyson will be in his corner again. It’s a brilliant fight.
“It’s probably two of the heaviest if you discount Wilder, two of the heaviest punchers in the world,” Gareth said about Joshua and Ngannou.
If Ngannou lands on Joshua’s chin with anything big, he’ll likely knock him out or hurt him badly enough to be finished off. Unlike Wladimir Klitschko, if Ngannou gets Joshua hurt, he’ll finish the job and won’t play it safe, trying to box his way to a decision. What was Wladimir thinking?
“I’m really looking forward to it. I’m hearing Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang will be on the undercard. I don’t think that’s signed yet, but maybe. A dangerous fight for Wilder, but I’m really looking forward to it. Roll on February and March,” said Gareth.