RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Although Francis Ngannou is in town to face former two-time unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua on March 8, the first fighter he was questioned about during a media roundtable was the ghost of the past October, Tyson Fury.
LOOK: Anthony Joshua against Francis Ngannou, live exclusively on DAZN
On Tuesday, WBC champion Fury reportedly began a verbal fight with his former opponent, claiming that Ngannou had called him a “coward.” The former UFC heavyweight champion denied the claim, before the argument turned into a dispute over who won the fight between them.
Ngannou sensationally dropped Fury with a left hook in the third round when the two met five months ago, before losing a disputed 10-round split decision in Riyadh.
Ngannou dismisses Tyson Fury’s antics
“I was very calm and told him, ‘The only time you have a chance is in a boxing ring!'” Ngannou recalled. “You can get up [from being knocked down] and that’s fine, but I know you can’t do s—. You can talk s— and you can’t do s—.
“Tyson can’t intimidate me. Again, the only time he has a chance is when the rules of boxing apply. If you take that [away]I beat him every day from Monday to Sunday, maybe twice on Sunday. I was like, ‘Bro, all this doesn’t matter.’ You can talk, but you know what really happened.'”
So good was Ngannou’s debut performance against Fury that the Cameroon-born colossus has faced his second elite foe in Joshua. Just two professional fights less and he will have faced two of the best heavyweights of this generation.
But despite the formidable challenge that awaits him on Friday, the MMA star feels there is still plenty of room for improvement.
“I think with more fights I will understand the game,” Ngannou said. “I will have the body mechanics. I will be comfortable with the pace of the fight, maybe [punch with] more power… a little more, not too much (laughs).
“I entered the [Fury] fight questioning myself about everything. Can I throw a jab? Have I ever thrown a jab in the boxing ring in front of a champion? I can do that? Can I do two rounds? Can I do four? Can I do six? “Regardless of the training I had, I knew the fight would be different.”
Ngannou points to Joshua’s resilience
While Ngannou is new to professional boxing, he has prepared diligently for Joshua’s test and has left no stone unturned. There was a solid game plan for Fury, which was built by second boss and former fighter Dewey Cooper, and there is a solid game plan for Joshua.
Ngannou also questioned his opponent’s punch resistance when asked which punch AJ is most vulnerable to.
“I think every punch he lands is always going to cause him problems,” Ngannou responded. “When he fought Andy Ruiz, I think the left hook was a big problem for him. I’m sure on the right [hand] side, he doesn’t want to find out [if he’s vulnerable].
“But I don’t need to rush. It’s not that if I lose [an early finish], I will lose the fight. I know I can win the decision. I can still win if I don’t In fact pick it up I really think [I can win on points]. Yo [beat] Fury in the points, so how can I not believe it? Even though it was a struggle in my mind, I came to believe it was possible.”
While opinions vary on Fury’s mentality and fitness when he faced Ngannou six months ago, the bottom line is that it was a very close fight. However, if the Cameroon-born destroyer can outperform a fit version of AJ, he will shock the world once again. That’s becoming a habit.
