Joshua can earn himself an undisputed heavyweight world title shot if he beats Ngannou and the Brit’s promoter has given his official prediction for the fight.
Eddie Hearn believes Anthony Joshua will knock out Francis Ngannou in the eighth round of their crossover fight.
Joshua will welcome former UFC champion Ngannou back into the ring on March 8 in Saudi Arabia after his stunning debut against Tyson Fury. The winner of their crossover fight has been promised a shot against Fury or Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed heavyweight world titles and Joshua’s promoter Hearn has backed him to get the job done inside the distance.
“We know the danger and mental strength Ngannou brings to this fight. This is a dangerous fight, one I believe ‘AJ’ will deal with in style. He is going to wear him down and chop him down and by the end of the eighth round this fight will be over and Anthony Joshua will be ready to fight for the undisputed world championship,” Hearn told Matchroom Boxing.
“I said to Joshua ‘Two wins and you are undisputed champion’, that’s it. He gets through Ngannou and we’ve got that shot at undisputed. I’ll tell you right now, he’s going to win them both. What an opportunity, this is a golden period for boxing because fans are seeing massive fights happen at the drop of a hat.”
Joshua originally played down a fight against Ngannou as “gimmicky” but backtracked on his decision after his rival’s performance against Fury. Ngannou is hoping a win against Joshua will earn him another shot at Fury and Hearn explained what makes the former UFC champion so dangerous.
“You’re talking about a guy that has so much resilience and willpower to succeed. When you couple that with power it makes him a real threat in this fight, but you counter that with ability and preciseness. That is what Joshua has to bring in this fight, he is a true killer this guy,” Hearn added.
“Ngannou doesn’t have the experience and he isn’t worried. Any normal individual would be worried. He’d never had a professional fight before. Imagine the mental strength to go and fight Tyson Fury then rock up and sign to fight Anthony Joshua. That’s the strength of this guy in mind and that’s what makes him dangerous.”
