Joshua Warned About Ngannou’s Power – ‘The Strongest Fighting Machine, A Different Breed’
Tony Bellew has warned Anthony Joshua to be careful about Francis Ngannou.
The two men face off on March 8 in Ngannou’s second boxing fight. Joshua enters the fight full of confidence, having stopped Otto Wallin in his last bout. Since teaming up with Ben Davidson, Joshua looks more assured. Ngannou is equally in good form, even if he lost his previous fight.
He pushed Tyson Fury on his boxing debut, dropping the WBC Heavyweight Champion in the third round and making it to the final bell. That performance secured him a top-ten ranking with the WBC, which led to the Joshua bout.
Both fighters know that a win puts them in a position to fight for the Undisputed Heavyweight Championship of the world. Fury and Oleksandr Usyk fight for all the belts on May 18, leaving Joshua or Ngannou with a shot at them. But Bellew cautioned Joshua not to overlook Ngannou’s power.
Bellew On Ngannou
“He is single-handily the baddest man on the planet. “Nobody in the whole world is fighting with that man in a dark alley and coming out winning. No one. That guy is probably the strongest fighting machine I’ve ever witnessed…In a boxing ring he’s a total different kind of breed. If I’m being totally honest, his strongest attribute is his mental capacity and his mental strength. Not his boxing ability or skills. So let’s just see how it goes,” Bellew stated
Nevertheless, Fury showed that it was possible to box Ngannou, which allowed him to steal the rounds. But if Joshua does the same, he risks reverting to his old style, which was criticised. Joshua has been put down in his career against Andy Ruiz Jr and Wladimir Klitschko.
While Ruiz stopped him, Joshua got off the deck to beat Klitschko. He may need to do the same, just as Fury did, as Ngannou will be looking to land the big shots. He has spoken about testing Joshua’s chin, making it vital that the Brit’s defense is on point.
Ngannou On Joshua
“Yes, I heard that he doesn’t have a chin, I don’t know if it’s true or not. We’re going to find out. I hope I have the opportunity to test that out. In the fight you try to hit somebody in the chin or wherever you can hit him. “Maybe I will do something that nobody has done before and I really think I have the tools to do that, starting with a win against AJ,” Ngannou stated
But Ngannou will have to keep his focus on the current fight. He has already confirmed that he will make his PFL debut after this fight. He is expected to face the winner of Renan Ferreira and Ryan Bader, who both face off on the PFL vs Bellator: Champs card today in Saudi Arabia. So, to balance those two sports without neglecting one will be tricky. If Ngannou manages to do that, the future looks bright in his quest to conquer both sports.
“I think the winner of this is the guy I’m going to fight in my MMA return. It is my intention to return to the sport. When exactly, I think depends on March 8. Everything depends on March 8. (Bader and Ferreira) are both champions and one of them is going to be a champ-champ. So, I think there wasn’t a better way to find an opponent for me, since I am a champion myself, just in case you have forgotten,” Ngannou revealed
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