Khan: “Not To Sound Disrespectful, But I Think [Joshua] Is Easier To Hit Than Fury”

Like the rest of us, former world champion Amir Khan is hugely intrigued as to what will happen when Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou collide in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia a week on Friday (March 8). Khan, who spoke with All Out Fighting, said that the action that will unfold inside the ring, and who comes out on top, will leave fans with a feeling of which sport has the stronger operators, boxing or MMA.

Khan says that, in light of the punishing success Ngannou had in his debut boxing match with Tyson Fury, fans are currently feeling that “boxers are a little bit weaker than MMA fighters. It’s Joshua’s job, Khan said, to win in style on March 8 so as to prove this is not the case.

“The way people look at boxing now, after that fight (Ngannou had) with Fury, is that boxers are a little bit weaker than MMA fighters,” the former 140 pound champ said. “This is where Joshua needs to show them that boxers are not weaker but better and stronger.”

This of course if not the first time (nor will it be the last time) that people have compared the two combat sports, the debate over which sport is tougher seemingly one that plenty of people enjoy engaging in. In reality, both sports are totally different. It would of course be an entirely different fight with an entirely different outcome if AJ fought Ngannou in the cage, as it would have been a totally different fight had Fury faced the former UFC heavyweight champ in the cage and not the ring.

But Ngannou MAY still beat Joshua in the ring, as he almost did when he fought Fury back in October. Khan says AJ is “easier to hit” than Fury. As such, Khan chucks out a “who knows what might happen?” answer in response to his own question of what could occur if/when Ngannou lands a bomb on Joshua’s chin.

“I think Joshua is a very smart fighter. It will still be a hard fight because you’ve got to understand, Ngannou’s got more confidence going into this fight, and he thinks he can hurt and knock out Joshua,” Khan said. “He says that Joshua’s got a weak chin, so he’s going to go for that and try to throw those big bombs. If he connects, who knows what happens? [Fury’s] one hard fighter to hit clean. So many top guys have tried to knock him out , knock him down or hurt him. Not to sound disrespectful; I like Joshua, I think he’s a great fighter, but I think he’s easier to hit than Fury.”

Interesting. Joshua actually asked the question during the face-to-face with Ngannou, “who hasn’t knocked Tyson down?” AJ would of course be in in complete disagreement with Khan in regards to who has the better defence, he or Fury. But most fans seem to think Ngannou WILL land a big shot on Joshua’s chin at some point in their fight, and the question of what happens and how AJ takes the punch is something that will have many of us tuning in on March 8.

Not too many people seem to think this one will go the distance (interestingly, Claressa Shields said recently that she sees a split decision win, whoever comes out on top). Does Ngannou get the KO, or does Joshua? And will the winner, whoever he is, have fans of either boxing or MMA crying out how ‘their sport’ is tougher, with superior fighting men and women?