ANTHONY JOSHUA VS FRANCIS NGANNOU; ANTICIPATE
Anthony Joshua is set to face Cameroon MMA star Francis Ngannou in a boxing match on the 8th of March, 2024. The Briton has steadily been rebuilding his image in the boxing world after having a strong campaign in 2023, winning his 3 fights and looking to be back to his best.
The briton fighter found himself a subject of scrutiny from some of his fans and big names in the boxing world after his losses against Andy Ruiz Jr and Oleksandr Uysk, his behavior after both losses and his reactions in the ring in subsequent fights.
Anthony Joshua looked relaxed at the press conference for the fight, he acknowledged Ngannou’s strength and talent by making reference to Ngannou’s thrilling boxing debut against the current WBC champion, Tyson Fury who has been a long time rival of Joshua.
Joshua mentioned Francis Ngannou as one to cause the heavyweight division “problems”. Talking about Ngannou’s lack of experience in boxing, Joshua cited his own rise in the sport as an example. “In three years of coming into boxing I became Olympic champion. In three years as a professional I became a world champion. You don’t have to have a whole heap of experience,” he said.
Francis Ngannou who came close to pulling off one of the greatest upsets in boxing history against the WBC champion,Tyson Fury will surely be a challenge to Anthony Joshua. Ngannou is confident in his skills and has backed himself to give the former two time heavyweight champion a run for his money. “I heard he doesn’t have a chin,” Ngannou said of Joshua. “I don’t know if it’s true or not. I hope I have the opportunity to test it out, that’s my wish.” Ngannou made these comments in the press conference for the fight to further elaborate on how confident he is.
Ngannou lost by a narrow and somewhat controversial split decision in October 2023 to Tyson Fury on his boxing debut and though he is quite new to the sport, he’s an adept MMA fighter and one the greatest fighters to have graced the MMA sport.
His record and talent in MMA speaks for itself but it’s yet to be seen if he can repeat the same heroics in the boxing universe. A win against Joshua or the manner of his loss will cement his claims as the new force to reckon with in boxing while for Joshua, a win will make him the contender for the biggest prizes in boxing once again.
The fight will be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on March 8, 2024. It will be a heated contest and the likely decider of who faces the winner of the Undisputed heavyweight world champion bout between Tyson Fury and Olekasandr Uysk.
Content Credit:
| Ajibola Emmanuel
Picture Credit:
MMA Fighting | https://www.mmafighting.com/2024/1/15/24039073/watch-anthony-joshua-and-francis-ngannou-face-off-for-first-time
Business Insider | https://www.businessinsider.com/anthony-joshua-boxing-training-regime-diet-2021-7?r=US&IR=T
