Francis Ngannou knows his position as the underdog in his upcoming boxing match against Anthony Joshua. The MMA star sees the fight as a tough one but is confident that he can come out as the victor in the end.
Ngannou will be taking his second boxing fight after his memorable bout against Tyson Fury, who defeated him. Despite that result, it can be recalled that dropping the boxing opponent in the third round of their fight and ultimately giving him a challenging fight gave Ngannou an impressive name in the boxing world. Even Matchroom Boxing Chairman Eddie Hearn, who promotes Joshua, has been praising Ngannou for this. Yet, “The Predator” doesn’t want such praises to make him comfortable in his next fight.
“I’ve been sitting here listening to people talking and even Eddie praising me, which I appreciate that,” Ngannou said during a recent press conference for his Joshua fight. “At the same time, I’m not sure he’s honest, or if just wants to get me [sleeping on] his guy, which, that’s not going to happen. I’m just a beginner out here that’s going to train really hard and do everything and come as the underdog to win the fight. I don’t take my last fight as a reference. I think that I get this done, I think that I get everything, I know exactly where I am at. I’m just a beginner, and I’m definitely going to come out better, get better and better, so that’s how I see things. I’m getting prepared for a hard fight.
“Yes, the Tyson Fury fight was great, it was awesome, but that’s now in the past, and I have a new challenge in front of me when I take it even more serious now than before, because now, I think there is something more on the line, which is probably the undisputed [title].
Prior to the arrangement of the fight, Ngannou viewed Joshua as an easier opponent than Deontay Wilder, who was originally supposed to be his opponent. Yet, now that they are officially booked for a fight, Ngannou has to admit that it won’t be an easy fight for him, albeit he thinks winning is “possible.”
“Let’s see, maybe I will do something that nobody has done before, and I really believe that I have the tools to do that,” said Ngannou. “Starting off having a win against A.J. on March 8 in Riyadh, which is going to be a big fight. Not an easy one, but a possible one, and I’m going to take that.”
