Claressa Shields predicts Joshua vs Ngannou fight
Three-weight world champion Claressa Shields (14-0, 2 KOs) gives her analysis of the highly-anticipated showdown between Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou, taking place on March 8 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The two-time Olympic gold medallist, Shields, comes off her second win in MMA, while still holding all four belts in boxing’s middleweight division.
Regardless of her switch from the ring to the cage, she backs her fellow London 2012 Olympic champion to defeat the former UFC heavyweight ruler.
On MMA Hour, she said: “What a good fight that’s going to be, I’m gonna be glued to my TV.
“I think AJ’s a very tough test. Francis showed he’s got some skills though, and if he builds off that momentum, and what he showed against Fury, then he can be very competitive.
“It really depends on which AJ shows up. I’m waiting for the AJ that fought [Wladimir] Klitschko to show back up, so we will see.”
Joshua (27-3, 24 KOs) defeated long-reigning unified champion Klitschko back in 2017 when, after weathering the storm in a dramatic heavyweight classic, the destructive Brit scored a dramatic 11th-round stoppage to retain his titles.
Since then, the 34-year-old has flirted with a few different approaches to his fights.
Following a shock defeat to Mexican underdog Andy Ruiz – who stopped him in the seventh round of their 2019 contest – Joshua decided to reinvent himself as a defensive fighter, no longer recklessly fighting fire with fire after getting burned in New York, instead boxing his way to a wide unanimous decision victory in the rematch with the Mexican-American later that year.
Now, it seems as if the former two-time world heavyweight champ has found a healthy balance between the two styles under new trainer Ben Davison, who was in his corner last time out against Otto Wallin, who he stopped in the fifth.
Question marks are still being raised over AJ’s chin so will have to box at his very best against dangerous puncher Francis Ngannou this weekend in Riyadh.