A heavyweight champion in the UFC, Ngannou made his professional boxing debut in a non-title bout against Tyson Fury, the reigning WBC champion.
Ex-UFC heavyweight champion Ngannou is currently preparing for his second boxing fight following his stunning debut against Tyson Fury last October. Ngannou recruited ‘Iron Mike’ to help him train for the Fury fight and the boxing legend’s services paid off as Ngannou put his rival down to only lose by a single point in a controversial decision.
Ngannou has been in Saudi Arabia for the past five weeks training at Tyson’s new boxing gym in Riyadh. “To be honest with this fight since my training was here [Riyadh], we didn’t get Mike Tyson here,” Ngannou told Mirror Fighting. “He came in like three times [for Fury], he was more advising. He would come and watch our training, we would be there to give advice.”
Ngannou and Tyson did reunite over the weekend as they sat next to each other whilst cageside for the PFL vs Bellator Championships event in Riyadh. The first major MMA event in Saudi Arabia cemented Ngannou’s opponent for his cage fight return as he will fa s Renan Ferreira after the Brazilian knocked out Ryan Bader in just 21-seconds.
Former UFC champion Francis Ngannou believes that Anthony Joshua’s nerves could help him in their upcoming fight.
Ngannou is set to face Joshua, a two-time heavyweight champion, in his second professional boxing match in less than two weeks. His debut last October saw him surprise many by knocking Tyson Fury down and only losing by one point in a decision that sparked debate.
Fury had tried to rattle Ngannou before their fight by making fun of his body and calling him a “sausage” multiple times. However, Joshua has taken a different approach, saying that despite Ngannou only having one boxing match under his belt, this crossover fight is the biggest challenge he has ever faced.
He has since signed to fight Ngannou on March 8, following the ex-UFC heavyweight king’s stunning performance against Tyson Fury in October.
However, former cruiserweight world champion Nelson is worried that defeat could ruin Joshua’s legacy by leading fans to only remember him for the upset loss.
Nelson sparked debate with his original comments on the matter, but clarified his point on White and Jordan on Thursday as he explained: “Let me just get it right – I said it’s if Joshua loses to Ngannou in his second professional fight.
“Joshua, former two-time heavyweight world champion, [despite] everything he’s done the public are gonna be left with that loss to a guy in his second professional fight, forgetting all he’s achieved.
“If I was Eddie Hearn, if I was Joshua’s promoter, I wouldn’t have taken the fight because the risk/reward doesn’t weigh up.
“If you lose to him, where are you gonna go from there?
“What’s it gonna do to AJ’s head, thinking, ‘I just lost to this guy, what’s going on here?’
Francis Ngannou thinks Tyson Fury can handle a punch better than Anthony Joshua.
Ngannou, the ex-UFC champion, impressed fight fans with his professional boxing debut against Fury in October, putting the heavyweight champion on the canvas in the third round. Now, he’s getting ready for his second professional fight against Joshua on March 8.
Despite flooring Fury in his previous fight, Ngannou still lost by just one point. It was a confusing call that some people didn’t agree with. Ngannou now hopes that if he beats Joshua, he might get to duke it out with Fury once more after the Gypsy King’s heavyweight unification clash with Oleksandr Usyk is settled in May.
When Ngannou was asked if he thought Joshua could take a hit like the one Fury did, Ngannou told DAZN: “I have a doubt about that, Tyson has showed that he is very resilient. I saw him come back from a knockdown that you wouldn’t believe somebody would come back from. I think he is probably one of the most resistant people out there.”
But Ngannou also promised not to underestimate Joshua: “That is not a disrespect to AJ. I don’t believe that Joshua will take what Tyson did. Even going to the fight, I knew that even if I knock him down I will not get excited. That it wouldn’t mean anything because he always comes back, so I had to prepare for a very endured person. Psychologically that’s how I was.
In his debut in October, he astonishingly floored Fury but it was not enough to avoid a controversial split-decision loss.
Ngannou still takes confidence from the performance and knockdown – which he doubts Joshua would have come back from.
He said in a DAZN face to face: “Yeah, I have a doubt about that. Tyson showed that he’s very resilient.
“I saw him come back from a knockdown that you wouldn’t believe.
“So I think he’s probably one of the most resistant person out there, and that’s not a disrespect to AJ.
“I don’t believe that AJ would take what Tyson did.”
But Joshua – with a stoic glare – hit back at Ngannou: “Who hasn’t knocked Tyson down? So many people have knocked Tyson down.”
Fury, 35, has been floored seven times in his career but bounced back to his feet every time to remain undefeated.
Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou will meet in heavyweight clash live on Sky Sports Box Office on March 8; boxing superstar Joshua is the former WBO, WBA and IBF heavyweight champion working his way back to the top of the sport; Ngannou, a UFC champion, fights AJ after Tyson Fury bout
Joshua, the former unified WBO, WBA and IBF heavyweight champion, will fight Ngannou, the one-time UFC titlist whose sudden appearance in boxing has taken the sport by storm, at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh.
Joshua is on a three-bout winning streak after rebuilding from a second consecutive loss to Oleksandr Usyk in 2022.
Most recently he dominated Otto Wallin, forcing the Swedish contender to retire on his stool after five rounds.
Mixed martial arts star Ngannou will only be having his second professional boxing bout, but he almost secured one of the biggest upsets in heavyweight history in his first.
Nate Diaz has called out Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury six months after being defeated by Jake Paul in his boxing debut. The long-time UFC fighter swapped sports last summer but lost by unanimous decision after being knocked down in the fifth round.
Diaz, 38, now wants a ‘real fight’ against anyone, including the top two British heavyweights. The Californian is adamant that he would ‘f*** up’ both despite coming in considerably undersized compared to the pair.
Heavyweight boxing star Frazer Clarke does not believe close friend Anthony Joshua will betray him ahead of his all-British showdown with Fabio Wardley. AJ and Wardley train in the same gym, raising the possibility of the former world champion giving out pointers that could work against Clarke on fight night.
Olympic medalist Clarke and 6ft 5in Wardley are set to put their unbeaten professional records on the line at the O2 Arena on March 31. The winner will also take home the British heavyweight title belt, which is currently held by Wardley.
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Heavyweight boxing star Frazer Clarke does not believe close friend Anthony Joshua will betray him ahead of his all-British showdown with Fabio Wardley. AJ and Wardley train in the same gym, raising the possibility of the former world champion giving out pointers that could work against Clarke on fight night.
Olympic medalist Clarke and 6ft 5in Wardley are set to put their unbeaten professional records on the line at the O2 Arena on March 31. The winner will also take home the British heavyweight title belt, which is currently held by Wardley.
Clarke finds himself in an unusual situation whereby his friend Joshua is sharing a gym with his upcoming opponent. The 32-year-old’s friendship with AJ is so close that he risked backlash in 2022 by apologising on his behalf for a perplexing rant after losing to Oleksandr Usyk.
“I’d like to apologise on AJ’s behalf,” Clarke told Sky Sports after the fight. “He might not like me for this and his team might not either but they left him out to dry there.
That was so out of character but the people around him, where were they? He’s had a bad one there… if I was there, I would’ve took a dig just to take the mic off of him just to give him a minute to compose himself.”