Some fans believe part of the reason Anthony Joshua agreed to take on Francis Ngannou, a big part, is because it will give him the chance to look better than Tyson Fury looked when he tackled the former UFC heavyweight king. AJ still hopes to face Fury one day, and so many millions of fight fans still hope to see the fight, especially British fans.
And Eddie Hearn says if his guy AJ does as he feels he will and knocks Ngannou out in their March fight in Riyadh, the public demand for a Joshua-Fury fight will “continue to grow.”
Joshua, either intentionally or not, is currently on an ‘anything you can do I can do better” campaign aimed at Fury. Fury we know struggled to defeat Otto Wallin (hampered mostly by a savage cut, not by Wallin’s power or skill, although Wallin did wobble Fury late on in the 2019 fight), and Fury actually lost the Ngannou fight in October of last year in the opinion of a good many people.
Now, fresh off his dominant stoppage win over Wallin, Joshua, if he can crush Ngannou, will indeed be making fans wonder who wins if he and Fury do finally get it on. Hearn of course likes this way of thinking.
“I believe AJ is going to become undisputed heavyweight world champion,” Hearn said quite boldly, this on a Matchroom Boxing upload. “I said he’s going to beat Wallin, he’s going to beat Wilder and he’s going to beat Fury. Really, what we’ve got to focus on now is beating Ngannou. If he can beat Ngannou in style – just like he beat Wallin in style – that will just make the demand grow for AJ against Fury. He would have demolished two people that Tyson Fury really struggled against and it will make people start to believe – as I believe they are now – that AJ can win that fight (with Fury) but that’s in the future.”
But can Joshua beat Ngannou in style, by KO or stoppage? Can Joshua beat Ngannou at all? This is a risky fight for AJ, mostly due to the sheer physical strength Ngannou has, this along with his hunger, his rock for a chin, and his confidence being so high as a result of the hell he gave Fury. But assuming Joshua does do a number on Ngannou, and assuming Fury beats Oleksandr Usyk in February (and then again in a likely rematch, this of course two fights that could take up most of this year to get done) – could it be, finally, Joshua Vs. Fury either late this year or some time next year?
And if the fight does wind up happening under the above scenario, who on earth will be the A-side??
