Promoters Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren agree that Francis Ngannous poses a threat to Anthony Joshua’s hopes of getting to the undisputed championship with his power.
Hearn has changed his time from initially seeing this fight as a slam dunk win to one filled with risk, as if he’s finally finally realizing what his popular fighter is up against.
Joshua (27-3, 24 KOs) and Ngannou (0-1) will fight this Friday on DAZN PPV at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The event will start at 10:20 a.m. ET and 3:20 p.m. PT in UK time.
Hearn still believes that Joshua has too much hand speed and boxing skills than Ngannou, but it’s his power that concerns him. He doesn’t know how AJ will react when he starts getting hit by the powerful former UFC champion.
Hearn: “He’s For Real”
“It’s a scary guy, and it was a scary guy before he did that to Tyson Fury, but now we know he’s for real,” said promoter Eddie Hearn to Queensberry, talking about Francis Ngannou, who will be looking to wreck Anthony Joshua’s hopes to fight for the undisputed when they tangle this Friday.
“It’s the first time someone has outsized AJ. Not in size, he nicks it, but in mass and size. AJ will be too fast, and hopefully, he’ll be too good. But at any moment, he has the ability to turn your lights out, and that’s a very worrying thought in what could be down the line,” Hearn said.
Joshua will have the hand speed and skills advantage, but he’s going to get hit at some point, even if he’s adopting the Wladimir Klitschko, safety first style that he used against Andy Ruiz Jr in their second fight.
The Knockout Factor
“It is [jeopardy] because they’re both big punchers and whoever lands that first big shot, what’s the mindset going to be for the guy that’s on the other hand of it? That’s going to be the intriguing thing for me,” said promoter Frank Warren about the Joshua vs. Ngannou clash.
“It will also determine how the fight moves forward because if someone gets caught, they’re not going to want to make the same mistake again. So, they’re going to have to go to their plan B. So, I think it’s a really, really interesting fight and exciting fight, and I don’t think it’s going to go the distance,” said Warren.
