Carl Froch believes Anthony Joshua should be licking his lips right now
Anthony Joshua vs Francis Ngannou takes place over 10 rounds in Riyadh this Friday, March 8.
It’s the talking point of the week, with everyone making their predictions and thoughts known ahead of the colossal Saudi showdown.
AJ has had over 30 professional boxing fights, conquered the world as amateur and pro, whereas former UFC champ Ngannou enters into just his second bout. However, the powerful puncher was able to floor Fury and win on one of the three judges scorecards in their October fight last year.
Despite being quite outspoken about Anthony Joshua’s career, Carl Froch is backing the Brit, believing that it’s his fight to win or lose.
Speaking to Lucky Block, Carl Froch said, “Depending on how the fight goes with Ngannou, and if he was to lose, there’s always options for him. A loss isn’t always the end of the road. I’m not going to say if he loses to Ngannou he should retire. But if he does lose to Ngannou in a bad fight and gets knocked out, he’ll probably want to retire.
“Because you’ve made that much money, you’re in such a good position financially, why go on boxing and getting your head punched in when you don’t need to? That’s why I retired. I retired at 36 years old, because I thought I’d made enough money, I’ve got three kids at home and I’m healthy.”
Things have fallen nicely into place within the busy heavyweight division for Anthony Joshua in recent months and Froch thinks the former world champion will position himself perfectly with a statement win over the inexperienced Ngannou.
Carl Froch: “I think Anthony Joshua will be licking his lips. He’s in against somebody who’s making his second professional boxing match. He’s a heavyweight mixed martial arts world champion, one of the most dangerous men on the planet but it’s only his second fight as a professional.
“So really and truly, this fight for Anthony Joshua will be as easy or as hard as he wants to make it. I think AJ can get behind his boxing ability, the boxing skills that won him Olympic gold in London in 2012 and a two-time world heavyweight champion.
“He’s got the experience of being in with the best in the world and he can sit back and just see how this heavyweight landscape sort of pans out.”
Long-term domestic rival, Tyson Fury, has left boxing fans frustrated by twice postponing his undisputed match with Oleksandr Usyk which ‘The Cobra’ reckons has made him the villain of the scene, while Joshua has bounced back from his losses and is now the fan favourite he once was when he broke through back in 2012.
Foch reasoned, “The fans are turning back round in Joshua’s favour now and they’re going against Fury, because you always need a villain, don’t you? British fans, they love it, don’t they? We’re very fickle as fans. We build you up, we get behind you, then we kick you down. Then when you’re down and out and you’re in the gutter, we like it when you climb back up. When you climb back up, you’re a hero again.
“We saw it happen to David Beckham didn’t we, and now everyone loves him. But I think AJ should just concentrate on Ngannou, and then have a look at how the landscape changes, because is Usyk vs Fury even going to happen?”