UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou has fired a warning the way of next opponent Anthony Joshua as they faced off for the first time at a press conference. The Cameroonian gave Tyson Fury a real scare in his first official boxing bout and is now looking for his first win against Joshua in March.
The 37-year-old fighter gained a reputation for explosive punching during his MMA days and last ring opponent Fury felt the full force of this during their clash in October. Ngannou ended up on the losing side in the ‘Battle of the Baddest’ on a controversial split points decision but his showing earned him major kudos within the boxing community.
His performance on the night in Riyadh eventually saw him installed as the number 10 heavyweight in the world by the WBC following his narrow defeat. It was subsequently announced that the man known as ‘The Predator’ had also earned himself a glamour fight with Joshua.
Now, it is clear that Ngannou is set on making another contest of this latest major bout, this time against the two-time former unified world heavyweight champion. Speaking in London, he acknowledged: “I’m just a beginner out here who is going to train really hard and come as the underdog to win the fight.
“I think I can get this done; I know exactly where I am and I’m just a beginner, but I am going to get better and better. The Tyson Fury fight was great, it was awesome but it’s in the past and I have a new challenge in front of me and I take it more seriously than before because there is something more on the line, probably the undisputed.
“I do something nobody has done before; I have the tools and it starts against AJ,” he teased as he went on to fire a warning the way of his upcoming opponent. “I am going to look for his chin. In a fight you try to hit them in the chin, I’ve heard he doesn’t have a chin but we’re going to find out.”
With Ngannou clearly feeling confident ahead of this latest test of his mettle following his switch to boxing, it was obvious that his next opponent was not interested in engaging in a customary war of words before they step foot in the ring. Instead, Joshua remains focused on the task at hand – but predicted an “explosive” encounter.
He said: “Every fight leads to somewhere, so this fight is my everything, my soul, my spirit, my mind, my body. We’ll see where it leads me but at the moment I’m not thinking about championship belts or anything other than Francis. We’re putting the belts on hold, I’m searching for greatness.
“He brings two arms, a body, like every other fighter does. It’s just his mind that’s different but in terms of his frame, he’s seen people like me before and I’ve seen people like him before. It’s going to be good, it’s going to be explosive but there are many ways to skin a cat.”
The fight was announced just after the turn of the year after a prospective bout between Joshua and Deontay Wilder fell apart after the latter’s defeat versus Joseph Parker.