Ryan Garcia convinced Joshua-Ngannou won’t last the distance
Super lightweight star Ryan Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs) anticipates Anthony Joshua vs Francis Ngannou ending inside the distance, living up to its billing – “Knockout Chaos.”
The two heavyweight giants square off this Friday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as two-time unified champion Joshua (27-3, 24 KOs) takes on former UFC belt holder Ngannou (0-1), a relative boxing novice.
Ahead of his showdown with Devin Haney on April 20 – for the WBC strap at 140 lbs – Ryan Garcia, following a series of erratic and somewhat bizarre posts on social media, has now given his take on the heavyweight dustup.
On X, he said: “Hard to go against Ngannou due to his ability to surprise myself and everyone else especially in that Fury fight, that being said… Joshua in 4 or 8.”
Over the past few days, Garcia has put his upcoming title fight in jeopardy, with much of the boxing fraternity concerned about his wellbeing after he posted a video saying that people were trying to put him in jail.
But regarding his thoughts on the action this Friday night, it seems that the 25-year-old backs his former stablemate, as the pair briefly shared a gym under the joint tutelage of American trainer Derrick James.
Joshua has since appointed Ben Davison as his full-time coach, with the Brit having based himself in the UK before flying over to the Middle East.
Davison – in the corner for his last fight – has been given ample credit for Joshua’s decisive performance against Otto Wallin in December last year, when he stopped the Swede in the fifth round, utilising his improved footwork to create angles for a barrage of devastating power shots.
Now, he heads into unknown territory against MMA man Ngannou who, despite dropping Tyson Fury in the third-round of their dramatic contest last October, remains unproven as a boxer with just one professional bout.