Topic: [Boxing] Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou - March 9 - page 15. (Read 2643 times)

Ngannou is a real deal. I mean,  he could punch hard and he is strong and could accept punches. The only problem I see here is if AJ have more quickness than Ngannou and AJ will use that against a newbie in boxing. With that, it would result to an easy win for AJ and Ngannou's hype will die.

We don't want to see that and we don't believe that, right? So I guess the poll says a lot about how sports bettors here felt about this fight, we can go big or go home here for Ngannou. GL!

We already have an idea, Ruiz fight and even in the Usyk fight wherein there were moments that AJ's leg was wobbled because he was hit by Usyk who is not known to be a big puncher but still it has enough to bring AJ's legs to move.


That's the scary part of Francis, he can take punches as well as dish it out. Wish though that he will have the stamina or developed it through 10 rounds so that he will still looks fresh in the championship rounds against AJ if this fight goes to distance.

After the Fury - Joshua fight, Ngannou became the favorite in this fight based on the members' poll here, but on Fandurl sports book it's the other way around
Ngannou opened as a considerable underdog for this bout with +470 odds at FanDuel Sportsbook, while Joshua is a -550 favorite.
Anthony Joshua Vs. Francis Ngannou Boxing Fight Odds

I voted for Joshua to win by decision if it goes the distance but if we're talking about who's going to go down it's Joshua because between the two it is Ngannou who is the hard puncher and Ngannou can take a punch, compared to Joshua who's been down many times in the past, Ngannou chances is to knock Joshua out while Joshua's skill in boxing is better than Ngannou and this will save him.

That's exactly what will happen. However, I'm pretty sure that Joshua is aware of that outcome, so he will make sure it will not happen. He suffered knockouts in his career, he cannot take it anymore against a much stronger opponent. Joshua here will just likely play Ngannou, he will not goe toe to toe, instead he will use his quickness while trying to score. And with that, I agree that bookies made the right odds for this game, because Ngannou chance here is to hit Joshua with a clean shot that would result to KO.

I think the closest that we might see how Joshua can take a power puncher is obviously against his first defeat, Andy Ruiz. But I think Ngannou has more power that Ruiz and with that, if let's say Francis landed the way he landed on Fury, it might be goodnight for Joshua.

So not sure what bookies is putting him as a big underdog in this fight. But I think it's going to be a field day for gamblers who wanted to bet on the underdog. As we all know that Francis is a live dog and that odds is very enticing and it might cost big money on casinos if Francis is going to pull the biggest upset and score a knockout against Joshua in this fight.

The money that both players will receive because of this fight is jaw-dropping. Anthony Joshua will receive close to £31m, while Francis Ngannou might get up to £16m. But like you said, this fight is far more than the financial gains. Anthony Joshua wants to fight his way to the top and reclaim his past glory, while Ngannou is desperately seeking an avenue to get to the top.

Joshua is a more experienced fighter and could use it against the new guy on the block. But Francis is heavy and also a good puncher, so I have some doubt if Joshua will be able to withstand him for ten rounds. If Joshue survives a knockout he might end up winning the fight. The fight is a dangerous and unpredictable one but Joshua will be entering the ring with confidence after having a good 2023 where he defeated Jermaine Franklin, Robert Helenius and Otto Wallin. While Francis is motivated by the fact that he had given Tyson Fury one of the fights of his life.   

We can try to evaluate AJ by watching https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhdE4tnPiN4. For sure his chin can hold few good punches, but all those opponent did not his as hard as Ngannou. The biggest question would be tactics of Ngannou imho. If he would start with saving stamina for later rounds, then AJ would hold punches, if Ngannou would spam like Usyk, than series of not-in-full-power strikes will be enough.

Maybe the past fame of Ngannou runs in front of him and forces us to think that he will know each and every opponent. In such weight class, its even enough to jab to KO an opponent. So its isnt right to discuss "would-AJ-stand-or-fall" after a punch. Maybe we overestimate Ngannou, and his past is past now, as boxing is much different from mma fights and his record there.

There's always a value on it, IMO, he is quite an underrated boxer, and since his record is still 0, I thinkt he odds are just fair. But we aren't line makers, and line makers based their odds on a lot of factor, so if we believe that Ngannou should have win in his previous fight, I think this time he can prove himself if he really win against a boxer that is lower than Fury in terms of ranking.

Personally, I would take a 5.60 via KO, as I think AJ is not as durable as Fury.

Even after Ngannou's showing vs Fury the books line him at 4.20, via KO at 5.60 and vs decision at 16.  I think the latter has a lot of value in it.  Ngannou has the cardio to go all through the end in a boxing match as seen vs Fury.  But the question is how does Joshua take a punch from Ngannou?  Will he be able to stand up and soldier on til the end?  I really have no idea.

We all know Ngannou's chin could take a punch and he could prolly take Joshua's powerrr.  :/

Lol, but yeah, if that is the excuse on Fury's fight, they whoever trains him, whether his father, it's a failure on their fight to recognized that the likes of Francis Ngannou who has the power, can knock him down in a fight and that's why happen.

They just got lucky that the judges give them that score, otherwise, it will also be a broken fight between him and Usyk as it really derailed their fight like what happen to Wilder losing to Parker. AJ should learn from this and so not be overconfident even if they are the overwhelming favorites against Ngannou.

Francis has a surprising nice skill for a fighter - he can surprise opponent. He has surprised his last mma opponent with lots of wrestling, when everyone expected striking. He has surprised boxer with good boxing skills, enough to "not to look bad when fighting a champion". Most likely, or even 200% that he will surprise AJ and his team. Mark my words. Even if AJ wins, Francis is going to be different, not a straightforward running train with one loaded punch.


That is why there is always not one, but two corner guys despite cut man in the corner. That is a ridiculous excuse honestly. If they had nothing to analyse, they must have adopted strategy during rounds, that is why they are there.

Money is an important factor for fighters, but it seems to me that at some point it’s not just about money. It seems that after the fight between Ngannou and Fury, the boxing world is ready to accept this fighter, and now the important point will be whether Ngannou can defeat his opponents, and it is important that this can be done by knockout, so that there is no doubt about victory.

Joshua is weaker than Fury and Ngannou can beat him. I will say that I have always liked Ngannou as a fighter and I would like to see him win this fight.

It's not about a a fighter vs fighter beef, it's promotion (headed by Dana White) vs their fighter. So there's no agreement in between, and I don't think that Dana will give in to the demands of Francis if we talk about money. Dana is business and we all know that he will have his way one way or another and that's why I do not see Ngannou going back to his franchise.

And as we have seen, he is a natural striker with raw power. And boxing is the perfect fit for that kind of athlete. And besides, money in boxing is big for Heavyweight, specially that they have the back up of one of the richest nation, in Saudi Arabia.

And even if Francis decided to retire after his Fury and then Joshua fight, he will still have a lot of money in this pocket. Or if there is a good offer for him in the PFL and not in UFC under Dana, because of their personal beef, he can still make a lot of money.

For now, we should be looking for this fight though, I guess majority will agree that Francis based on his performance against Fury and if he improves, definitely Joshua is not going to be assured of a win here and maybe we will look and see upset as Francis power is scary and if landed of Joshua's chin which is weak, Ngannou will win by a impressive knockout.

Sure, but his boxing career could be short-lived if Joshua beats him easily. One of the reason for Fury's poor performance was no available material to analyse Ngannou's style and weaknesses. Joshua's team now has got at least something to work on.
But if Francis somehow manages to get that win, he's almost guaranteed to stay in boxing, and would likely get a fight with a winner of Fury Vs Usyk.


Did he really said that lol? It's funny because that's exactly what he was saying the other way around when Ngannou defeated Stipe and they wanted to set Jon against Francis but couldn't (for whatever reason), Dana was suggesting that Jon is afraid to fight Francis.

Dana can be understood also. If he would allow Francis to have a fight outside UFC, then other fighters will follow Francis and would also try to sit on two chairs at once. As a businessman he can be understood, as he was risking his asset in exchange for what? More fame and media? He could have allowed Ngannou to participate outside UFC only if other boxers would accept a fight under MMA rules and under UFC promotion. That would be fair. He others to earn on Ngannou name, then let him also earn on Fury name for example. That fight between Fury and Jones, he proposed that to happen under UFC flag.

P.S. Dana only allow his most milking cow to have a boxing fight, only because it would hype UFC also. And once he allowed his fighter to participate in other MMA event, but that was made when UFC were at the bottom and required any additional attention from the world.

The press conference is going to held on Monday in London according to Eddie Hearn: https://www.tntsports.co.uk/boxing/anthony-joshua-and-francis-ngannou-set-for-saudi-arabia-showdown-eddie-hearn-confirms-it-s-a-done-de_sto9944467/story.shtml

Hopefully they announce some undercard fights then as well. Very strong rumours that Wilder is wanting to avenge his loss fighting against possibly Zhang. I don't think Wilder is done yet but that's not a good fight for him. Zhang is a juggernaut, though if Wilder does win it throws him back in the mix as Zhang is the mandatory challenger for Usyk, though a win or great performance may also get the AJ fight back on track.


It's not an exhibition and neither was the Fury fight. They're officially sanctioned by the WBC. There's just no belts on the line because Francis was unranked, though he is ranked now and will likely move up the ranks with a win over AJ.


Beefs can mean something especially when egos are involved. Dana has pretty much been embarrassed by Ngannou by not only getting these huge deals in both boxing and MMA with the PFL but almost nearly beating Fury. Dana has been pretty childish towards Francis saying things like he was scared to fight Jon Jones which is BS. Dana just tried to low-ball Francis and strong-arm him into an unfavourable contract and Francis had the balls to just walk away and make his own path.  All Dana had to do was to just allow Francis to box outside of his UFC contract and had he done that Ngannou would likely still be with the UFC. Dana has been pretty hypocritical as well saying the UFC don't do gimmick cross-over fights but then offers to make Fury vs Jon Jones. Make up your mind.

This is not bad at all and since Joshua is still one of the best boxers in the heavyweight division, they can promote this fight easily and there will be no problem for their promoters to sell this fight but what I want to see is some trash talking because it's really good to fuel it with some words before the fight. Ngannou already learned his lesson in his last fight with Fury that's why Joshua shouldn't underestimate him because it could be that he will caught by a huge surprise that could end up the fight shorter than we all expected. We already know that Ngannou can actually survive 12-round fights without any problem.

This is a sign that he will not return anymore, his performance against Fury that created some controversy as some believe that Fury did not win had already made Ngannou an instant celebrity in boxing. So for sure he will stay here, he might not dominate but in terms of paycheck, he is making like a boxing superstar is making, at an entry level.

What do you mean official or exhibition? Its probably ranked or unranked fight. If AJ had a belt, he would not have lost it if he would lose. The same as with Fury fight. Fury wasnt risking anything (except reputation).

Dont think that Ngannou would ever return to UFC. UFC rarely pay a million to a fighter (but fighters get more than a million if we calculate payment+ppv sales+victory bonus+sponsors). Here, from the start he got 10 times more he was earning in UFC. Now, as he has a place in board in PFL, media, fame, he dont really need to fight in mma to earn the same amount he earned in UFC.