Gareth A. Davies believes Anthony Joshua is “back to his best” after his last performance against Otto Wallin, and he believes he’s ready to “chop down” former MMA champion Francis Ngannou on Friday.
Joshua appears to have been reset to factory levels by trainer Ben Davison and promoter Eddie Hearn’s careful match-making, keeping AJ away from dangerous punchers. We don’t know if Joshua is still mentally unstable inside the ring, and will fall apart when he faces this lethal punching machine Ngannou.
The Davison Effect
“Anthony Joshua’s fight against Otto Wallin showed that he’s back to his best. The union with Ben Davison has been fascinating,” said Gareth A. Davies to iFL TV, talking about Antony Joshua being at his pristine, factory-level form after being given a powerwash by promoter Eddie Hearn and coach Ben Davison.
As Gareth points out, the question here is, can Joshua (27-3, 24 KOs) put a dent in the powerful, steel-chinned Ngannou with his boxing gloves? No one could hurt Ngannou with 4-oz gloves in the UFC, and he faced some big punchers.
Davies wants Joshua to get Ngannou’s respect early by hitting him with some big shots and then dominating from there with his boxing ability. It’s easier said than done, considering Ngannou will be coming at him full force for as long as the contest lasts, looking to knock Joshua’s head off with each shot.
The Ngannou Challenge
“He’s got to get the job done in a composed and disciplined way like he did against Otto Wallin and make sure he chops down the big tree, Francis Ngannou,” Gareth continued. “He’s hittable. The anomaly of this big guy from MMA is that you can put a dent in him with boxing gloves.”
Beating Wallin, a weak, soft and old-looking fighter, is a different story for Joshua than attempting the same thing against a mountain of a main, Ngannou. It’s apples and oranges.
What AJ did against Wallin is meaningless for this fight, as he’s not facing a soft fighter this time. Hearn did his job to make Joshua look like a world-beater, but now it’s back to the real world.
“So, Joshua has got to hit him with some big shots and get his respect early. He can easily be a banana skin, but I believe Joshua has the wherewithal to do it,” said Davies.
