A FORMER world heavyweight boxing champion faces a former UFC world heavyweight champion in a boxing ring under boxing rules. It should be a forgone conclusion who the winner will be; it should be a ridiculous assumption that the MMA fighter even has a chance of winning.
However, in the case of Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou, it isn’t quite that straightforward. Ngannou, in his last and only outing as a professional boxer, pushed Tyson Fury extremely close, knocking the champion down en route to losing a split decision. It was unthinkable that Ngannou could beat Fury, yet he came very close to doing so last October. Could he possibly do it this time around and beat AJ? Personally, I don’t think he will. As admirably as Ngannou performed last time out, I believe Fury massively underestimated the task at hand and this led to his lacklustre performance and a close fight.
I believe AJ will have prepared for this fight meticulously – as if fighting top ranked opponent – and will come away with the win. I think he’ll box and move like he did in his rematch against Andy Ruiz and cruise to a points decision in a rather dull fight. Or, if not beat him like that, he’ll come out aggressively, as his did in his last bout against Otto Wallin, and land enough shots to force the referee to step in and stop the fight, with Francis on his feet but rather worse for wear, in the mid to late rounds.
It may be rather foolish to bet against Ngannou with the history he has. He’s certainly an extremely dangerous opponent for anyone in the world, but I think AJ’s superior boxing experience and skill will overcome the size, strength and power of the MMA star.
The chief supporting contest on Friday night (March 8), which pits Zhilei Zhang against Joseph Parker, is another intriguing heavyweight matchup.
Both are coming off possibly the biggest wins of their respective careers: Parker with a wide points win over Deontay Wilder and Zhang with a second win against the last man to peat Parker, Joe Joyce. It’s an interesting matchup and a tough one to call.
I think Parker will come away the winner on points. Zhang is dangerous early on; he’s very powerful and also a very skilled southpaw. He does, however, tend to fade late on. The last few rounds against Filip Hrgovic were a pretty hard watch. He’s 40 years old and not too far away from 300lbs. I expect Parker to be defensively responsible enough to avoid the early danger and win well down the stretch.
It should be an interesting night of boxing overall with winners of both bouts moving forward into another big fight, most likely in Saudi Arabia. The biggest fight for the British public is still Joshua-Fury. If Joshua wins this week and Fury can overcome Usyk in May, could we finally see that later on this year?
