Ngannou vows to knockout Joshua

Francis Ngannou’s MMA instructor, Eric Nicksick, has stated that the Cameroonian may have more knockout opportunities in his next boxing battle against Anthony Joshua on March 8 than he did against Tyson Fury.

The former UFC heavyweight champion stunned the combat sports world when he knocked down Fury in their crossover bout on October 28 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Despite losing the bout by split decision, Ngannou gained the support of many spectators because, as a boxing debutant, he faced Fury on the floor.

Ngannou’s shock factor will be reduced going into a bout with Joshua, but his trainer feels they still have more abilities to showcase in Riyadh.

“Tyson does such a good job of movement and angles, and kind of just rolling off the punches and things like that,” Nicksick told MMA Fighting.

“I feel like Anthony is going to be there more often; he’s more of a plot fighter and kind of works well behind his jab, but I feel like we can find him there in the pocket rather than having to chase him down or try to hunt him down.

“So there’s some differences there, but by that style of fight, if he’s going to be there in the pocket, Francis will find you.”

Ngannou won 17 out of 20 MMA battles, losing only three, including 12 knockouts and four submissions. Some of his most impressive wins in the Octagon were knockouts over Alistair Overeem, Cain Velasquez, and Stipe Miocic.

While he participates in a different combat sport, Joshua is well-known for his finishing skills, having knocked out Wladimir Klitschko, Alexander Povetkin, and, most recently, Otto Wallin.

Joshua’s major objective since entering the professional boxing business has been to unify all of the global heavyweight championship titles and become the division’s absolute monarch.

The closest he came was when he had the WBA, IBF, and WBO crowns, leaving just the WBC to complete the picture, but he lost all three belts to Oleksandr Usyk in back-to-back fights in 2021 and 2022.