Joe Joyce believes Francis Ngannou’s ‘freakish power’ can expose ‘glass-cannon’ Anthony Joshua
Joe Joyce is currently in camp preparing for his March 16 fight with Kash Ali, but he took time out from training to preview the Anthony Joshua vs Francis Ngannou showdown in Saudi this weekend, March 8.
Speaking OLBG, Joe Joyce predicted, “I’m doubtful they’ll meet in the centre of the ring, I imagine Joshua will play it safe. Joshua can hit hard but if he fights fire with fire and he could get caught in the flames, it could be over.
“He needs to be careful and get his shots off too. Francis can test AJ’s chin. AJ’s shown he hasn’t got the best chin, he’s shown he’s a bit of a glass cannon. He has explosive power but also he’s quite fragile.
“But how can I talk? I’ve just been knocked out, so I can’t talk. But look at what Ngannou did against Fury, he knocked him down and arguably won the fight, and he could do the same to Joshua.
“He needs to because Ngannou is not going to get the decision.
“Joshua and Ngannou are quite similar fighters, there’s not too much difference between their height and reach. Joshua’s way more experienced in boxing. But Ngannou actually started out in boxing before moving into MMA. He’s had great coaching and he’s shown how good he is in his last performance against Fury where he knocked him down as well. It’s a very close fight and styles make fights.”
JJJ then gave his final prediction for the fight, “If Francis lands a big bomb on Joshua’s chin, Joshua’s going down. Equally, Joshua’s got power and if he can put them punches together and use his experience, probably keep it a lot more long range, I can see why some are making him the favourite. If the odds are good for a Francis knockout, I’m putting my money on that.
“It’s a 50-50 fight. I’ll say Joshua on points or Ngannou for the upset by KO.”
The Putney puncher then revealed his own experiences sparring with the UFC star-turned-boxer, Ngannou, “I was working with two sparring partners and Francis jumped in for four rounds.
“He had good technique, you could see he had power, but he was a bit open because he was used to sparring UFC, so his stance was quite wide open like a UFC fighter, so I could see the power shots coming and I’d step out the way of them.
“You can tell he hit hard and I was just keeping him on the end of the jab and moving, trying to stay away from the power shots. He has freakish power, he’s dropped most of these UFC fighters, he dropped Fury, so he has got some serious power.
“I always used to talk to him in the gym at the UFC facility between training and he told me he started with boxing before dedicating himself to UFC. He always seemed to be training hard. He’s in great shape but he lives and lives a life.
“Personally I like Ngannou. I’ve spent more time with him recently than I have Joshua.”
Joshua-Ngannou will be broadcast on DAZN PPV and Sky Sports Box Office this Friday.