Matty Harris has sparred very recently with both Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou
British heavyweight prospect Matty Harris (5-1, 4KO) has sparred with, in his own words, ‘everyone’, including Francis Ngannou and Anthony Joshua, Derek Chisora, Dillian Whyte, Tyson and Hughie Fury, Nathan Gorman, even MMA star Tom Aspinall.
He revealed to SecondsOut that he helped ex-UFC champion Francis Ngannou prepare for his fight with Tyson Fury last year.
“I sparred Ngannou before he fought Fury, it must have been September or October time,” he confirmed, but confessed he didn’t imagine that the MMA star would be able to compete with the WBC heavyweight champion, who he has also sparred many times before.
“Watching the fight, I was very surprised. I genuinely couldn’t believe it,” he admitted. “I thought it was going to go a different way.
“Even down to Tyson Fury, everyone has off-nights. If it can happen to Tyson Fury, it can happen to anyone.”
Harris also sparred with Anthony Joshua, around a year ago, and when he was put on the spot about how he expects the forthcoming March 8th fight to go, his response was instant, “AJ goes through him.”
He expanded, “The thing with Ngannou that is quite challenging, I suppose, is his physical strength. He is incredibly physically strong. You know when you first clash with someone, when you first come into that first clinch, I imagine that might have caught Fury by surprise, he’s an incredibly strong individual.
“When I first met him, his abs were popping out from his top. I’ve never seen anyone built so strong. I remember he grabbed when we was like sparring in a bit of a clinch and I never felt like such a victim in all my life. That physical strength would take some getting used to.”
Check out more Joshua-Ngannou predictions here…
Matty Harris is back out on March 1st in Telford on the Baraou-Eggington Wasserman Boxing show, live on Channel 5, which will be his first fight with his new trainer in the corner.