After all the months of boasting and thrash talk, Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou will enter the ring in Saudi Arabia today, to decide who is the better fighter.
For Anthony Joshua, this is uncharted territory, which could ruin his best-laid plans of recapturing his heavyweight boxing titles seized by Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk in the same Saudi Arabia, which has become the Mecca of international boxing.
Joshua has gradually been rebuilding his reputation with three straight knockout wins, which has set him up for another shot at the world title. But then came the fight with Ngannou, which AJ reportedly accepted grudgingly because one of his main rivals, Tyson Fury, took the Cameroonian’s bait and passed, albeit with big scars to show for his win.
Followers of the sport believe that Joshua’s corner would be better prepared for Ngannou than Fury, who was knocked down by the hard-hitting former UFC champion before rising to score victory by split decision.
Following a fruitful 2023, Joshua’s confidence and energy levels are once again on the up. While beating the likes of Jermaine Franklin Jr, Robert Helenius and Otto Wallin isn’t exactly sweeping up a murderer’s row of killers, AJ’s killer instinct has returned following previous back-to-back losses that could’ve irreversibly damaged his mental make-up.
Now with Ben Davison and his assembled squad of trainers, AJ has returned to the basics, adding a simplification to his work.
Ngannou says his strong showing in his pro boxing debut against Fury has given him confidence ahead of his bout against Joshua.
The Cameroonian-French fighter (37) almost delivered an upset when he dropped Fury to the canvas with a left hook in that fight.
Looking forward to a successful second fight as a boxer, Ngannou said in the pre-fight conference: “I feel confident enough, based on my training, the hard work that I put in. I think on Friday night I’m going to have the reward for the work I put in.
“It (the fight against Fury) was a good experience and it definitely guided me better to have proper training. I cannot account exactly how much confidence it gives me, but it does set the temperature of the water.
“Every space I have open, I am going to hit… I am not going to leave any stone unturned and any opportunity unexplored.”
Ngannou, who has a 17-3 mixed martial arts record with 12 victories by knockout, will once again be the underdog when he faces two-time world heavyweight champion Joshua, but the 34-year-old AJ said he would not make the mistake of underestimating his less-experienced opponent.
“He’s been boxing. His first dream was to be a boxer, which people forget. He was part of the Cameroonian team,” Joshua (27-3-0) said.
“He’s been doing it from a young age. His dream was always to be a boxer. I know what I am up against, I look at all of these small details. I spar, I do my film study, all that type of stuff.”
Meanwhile, Ngannou’s coach, Dewey Cooper, believes Joshua will leave the ring ‘broken’ after his fight with the ex-UFC champion.
Cooper is confident his man can inflict more psychological pain on Joshua. He told mirror.co.uk, “The reality on Friday night is that someone is going to win, and someone is going to lose and that’s the unfortunate side of sports.
“We get to see a result in real time; we get to see triumph or misery in real-time. Someone will leave the ring very sad – most likely psychologically broken – and I don’t feel that will be us, I feel it will be Anthony Joshua and I will feel that way until it’s not. You can’t defeat him until you beat him; you can’t defeat Francis until you beat Francis and I don’t think he has what it takes to defeat Francis.”
