Will There Be a Shock in the Joshua v Ngannou fight?
by Steve Ashfield | by Steve Ashfield
Joshua Wants His Titles Back
March 8 sees Anthony Joshua take on Francis Ngannou in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It’s a fight that Joshua simply cannot afford to lose. Doing so would wreck any chance he has of becoming a three-time world heavyweight champion.
Anthony Joshua has won 27 of his professional fights and twice became the heavyweight champion of the world. He last held the title in 2021 but was then beaten twice by Oleksandr Usyk.
Since the second of those losses in 2022, the British boxer has had three fights. Jermaine Franklin, Robert Helenius and Otto Wallin have all been beaten. The last two of those victories came inside the distance but there still remain many question marks about his future.
This fight against Ngannou takes place a month before Usyk takes on Tyson Fury for the undisputed heavyweight title. There’s a rematch clause for that title fight and that might be good and bad news for Joshua.
On one hand it means he has to wait longer for a shot against the winner of those fights. However, it’s possible one of the sanctioning bodies will lose their patience and make their title vacant. Joshua has already been talking about a possible bout with Filip Hrgovic who is the mandatory challenger for the IBF version of the heavyweight title.
All those plans will go out of the window if he can’t beat Ngannou. He’s been rather dismissive in the past about a bout with the former MMA fighter. His opinion changed after Ngannou put on an impressive display against Tyson Fury last year.
Joshua has put in decent displays in his last three fights. He’s still a long way away from being the destructive force that led to him becoming world heavyweight champion in 2016. There were plenty of boos in his win over Robert Helenius but then he found one great punch that ended the fight in round seven. A stoppage win over Otto Wallin followed but despite the inexperience of his opponent, he is in danger in this fight. Bet365 give odds of 1.25 that he can win this fight.
Joshua is no stranger to hitting the canvas. He was knocked down by Wladimir Klitscho in a title defence. Against Andy Ruiz Jr, Joshua was put on the floor four times before the fight was stopped in the seventh round. He's 1.52 at William Hill to win this fight inside the distance or by DQ, something Fury didn't achieve.
His recent opponents haven’t been renowned for their power. The big question is what will happen when Joshua faces someone who does have a reputation for being able to put their opponents on the canvas. Ngannou fits that bill so what will happen in Riyadh on March 8?
Ngannou Out to Cause a Big Shock
Few gave Francis Ngannou a chance when he took on WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury las October. That non-title fight was just seen as a money-making exercise for both the fighters. We’ve seen a few boxer v MMA bouts in the past, most famously Mayweather v McGregor. No one really thought Ngannou could beat a current world heavyweight title holder.
Ngannou is a former UFC heavyweight champion and known for his punching power. Before he took on Fury though, he’d never had a professional boxing fight.
It has to be said that Fury did not look in the best of shape for their fight. There was always the chance that he would underestimate his opponent and not be in the best of shape for the bout. Even though that may have been the reason for Fury’s below-par performance, it was how Ngannou performed that was the most surprising factor of the fight.
He did want to train to be a professional boxer but then his MMA potential was seen. Ngannou went down that route instead with great success.
11 of his MMA fights were won as a result of his heavy punching. Could that power be transferred to professional boxing? We found out that the answer was yes when Fury was knocked down in the third round (as seen above). Fury recovered to win a controversial points decision. However, the fact is that one judge did give the fight to Ngannou. Now he takes on Anthony Joshua and even though he’s never won a pro fight, he’s ranked 10th by the WBC.
Joshua is the current top contender in the WBC rankings. A win for Ngannou would put him in line to get a shot at the world title, perhaps even a rematch with Fury. Unibet offers odds of 3.75 that he can win this fight.
We know he can punch hard and that Joshua can be knocked down. If Ngannou can floor Fury, then he could well do the same against Joshua. You can get odds of 4.75 at Vbet on him stopping Joshua. The fact that could just happen is making this fight compulsive viewing.
