Francis Ngannou believes his strong showing in his pro boxing debut against Tyson Fury has given him confidence ahead of his bout against British heavyweight Anthony Joshua in Saudi Arabia. The former UFC heavyweight champion Ngannou will fight Joshua at Riyadh’s Kingdom Arena on Friday.
Ngannou made his debut in October, losing via split decision to WBC world champion Fury in a non-title bout.
The Cameroonian-French fighter almost delivered an upset when he dropped Fury to the canvas with a left hook in that fight.
“I feel confident enough, based on my training, the hard work that I put in,” Ngannou said in his pre-fight press conference.
“It [fight against Fury] was a good experience and it definitely guided me better to have proper training. Every space I have open, I am going to hit … I am not going to leave any stone unturned and any opportunity unexplored.”
Much of the pre-fight narrative is presuming a win for Joshua that would put him in line to fight Fury, provided Fury – the WBC champion – beats Oleksandr Usyk – the WBA, IBF and WBO champion – in their rearranged May 18 bout that will crown the first undisputed heavyweight champion since 2000.
Anthony Joshua has been on the comeback trail since losing twice to generational great Oleksandr Usyk, and looked to be returning to his best form in recent fights. His unanimous decision victory over Jermaine Franklin Jr in April 2023 wasn’t anything to write home about, but it stopped a two-fight losing streak.
The most significant performances for Joshua over the last six months have been down to changes in his camp. Joshua linked up with Tyson Fury’s former trainer, Ben Davison, before his August 2023 fight against Robert Helenius. That relationship appears to have reignited something in AJ.
He stopped Helenius with a solid right and parlayed that into a dominant performance against Otto Wallin in December. Wallin retired on his stool at the end of Round 5. It might be a stretch to say the fearless AJ of old is back, but he’s certainly fighting with a lot more intent than he did after his loss to Andy Ruiz.
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