20 January 2024 , 13:00
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Francis Ngannou has been warned he could struggle if his fight against Anthony Joshua reaches the later rounds.
Ngannou is making his second boxing appearance against former two-time world champion Joshua when they close out Riyadh season on March 8. Ngannou dropped the heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and only lost by one point in a controversial decision when he made his debut last year as he looks to pick up his first boxing win against 'AJ'.
The winner of Joshua vs Ngannou has been promised an undisputed heavyweight world title fight against either Tyson Fury or Oleksandr Usyk. Wasserman Boxing promoter Kalle Sauerland admitted that Ngannou surprised him against Fury but thinks 'AJ' will stop the former UFC champion late in the fight.
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“Nothing is clear cut when you’ve got two men who can really punch in the ring together. I think the first four rounds will be a shootout but I said the same thing before Nganou’s fight with Fury and it didn’t quite pan out the way I said, because I thought they were going to go straight at each other," Sauerland told Mirror Fighting .
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“I think AJ gets him in the seventh or eighth round and the fight will be very exciting in the first three rounds. I think Ngannou is going to have issues stamina wise if the first three rounds are physical, that’s different to MMA. He’s shown he can box, I have no qualms with people putting him in the top 10."
Joshua and Ngannou sized each other up at a launch press conference in London earlier this week to promote their crossover fight. 'AJ' has won three consecutive fights since losing his heavyweight belts to Oleksandr Usyk and failing to win them back in their rematch. Joshua insisted he is refusing to focus on an undisputed shot against Fury or Usyk and is solely focused on Ngannou.
"We'll see where this fight leads me but at the moment I'm not thinking about championship belts or anything other than Francis. We're putting the belts on hold, I'm searching for greatness. He brings two arms, a body, like every other fighter does. It's just his mind that's different but in terms of his frame, he's seen people like me before and I've seen people like him before. It's going to be good, it's going to be explosive but there are many ways to skin a cat," Joshua said.