Promoter Eddie Hearn says Anthony Joshua’s fight against the Godzilla-like Francis Ngannous is a high-stakes one for him. Losing to a 0-1 Ngannou would be a bitter pill for the former two-time heavyweight champion Joshua (27-3, 24 KOs) to swallow on March 8th.
Hearn insists that Joshua is “back” to what he once was during the best years of his career, but even if that were true, he was always vulnerable and never the fighter that boxing fans made him out to be.
We saw that coming out of the 2012 London Olympics. He was just the guy who was gifted a gold medal after appearing to lose three of his matches in that competition.
Hearn isn’t saying what he’ll do with Joshua if he loses to Ngannou, but predictably, he’ll be matched against several fighters in the same mold as the three confidence-builders he just beat.
Path to Undisputed Champ?
“He’s taking this fight like it’s Tyson Fury x 10. If you get beat, you get beaten by a fighter with a 0-1 record,” said Eddie Hearn to Ariel Helwani’s site about what Anthony Joshua is up against fighting the novice Francis Ngannou on March 8th.
Joshua is being allowed to fight a non-boxer to get to the undisputed championship against the Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk. It’s obviously totally unfair, but oh well.
“His Excellency said the winner of this fight faces the winner of Fury-Usyk. That is a dream chance for us because we chased that for so long. AJ is going to beat Francis Ngannou, and then he’s going to beat the winner of Fury-Usyk, and he’s going to become the undisputed heavyweight world champion.
The Size Factor and One-Punch Danger
“Before he [Joshua] fought Otto Wallin, I went into the changing room, and he was hitting pads with Ben Davison. I was like, ‘He’s back,’ and I’ve never seen anything like it. He was punching with ferocity and confidence.
“It’s a week on Friday. Two giants will meet in the ring in Riyadh. This is the first time Joshua has fought an opponent that outsized him. This guy [Ngannou] is huge. It’s like a cruiserweight and a heavyweight. So this is a real threat.
“When these two come together in Riyadh, this is Godzilla and King Kong. This is two enormous men, and anything can happen in this fight. You can one shot on the chin, and it’s over,” said Hearn.
