Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou, both of whom possess fight-ending power in their fists, believe that the judges will be little more than ringside spectators when they meet in the ring in Saudi Arabia this coming Friday.
The two giant fighters, champions of their respective sports, have combined for 36 knockouts across two separate codes of combat sports throughout their careers — and both see this week’s historic clash in Saudi Arabia ending with the other man on his back staring up at the lights in Riyadh.
“I believe I can knock him out,” Joshua, a two-time former heavyweight champion, said to Sky Sports of his intentions against the former UFC titleholder. “Definitely. I would love to knock him out and make a statement.”
The statement Joshua pursues was unattainable to Ngannou’s first opponent in the boxing ring last October, WBC heavyweight champ Tyson Fury, who was unable to daunt the Cameroonian with punching power, instead relying on boxing savvy and ring IQ to jab his way to a razor-thin split decision win last October.
Joshua, though, says that he is ready for a fight that may hit the trenches should Ngannou’s much-vaunted power become a factor in the ten-round affair.
“Physically I feel strong, feeling good,” Joshua said. “Strong enough to get the job done and mentally I’m in a place where I’m ready for war. I’m looking forward to the challenge. Mentally I don’t worry so much about my opponent and look at what my opponent can bring to me and think, ‘how can I overcome these challenges they present?’ I work really hard to up my game and look forward to showing everything I’ve worked on.”
As for Ngannou, he comes into his second professional boxing match knowing conclusively that his fists adequately translate to boxing from the cage in which he has shown his work since his MMA debut a little more than ten years ago.
“I believe if I land on anyone, I will knock them out. The question is how to land? That’s the hardest thing,” the Cameroonian slugger added to Sky Sports.
“Almost everyone in this division can knock anyone out, but how do you land or carry that power and energy from first round to fifth round to 10 rounds and still hit someone hard or knock somebody out after all the fatigue? It’s a chess game.”
According to Joshua, the former Olympic champion eyeing the winner of the May’s Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk bout, this is music to his ears.
“I’m optimistic and I think, ‘brilliant, I want that’. I want someone in front of me who thinks they can knock me out,” he said. “But let’s see how good they really are. I want to be right in front of them, making it difficult for them to achieve their goal and see how much they really want it.
“This Friday it’s going to go down, so I can’t wait for the opportunity to show my skills and combat this person who thinks he can knock me out.”
