After seeing his man Tyson Fury almost come unstuck against Francis Ngannou, Frank Warren has now spoken out on the former UFC champion’s fight with Anthony Joshua and called it ‘intriguing.’
Ngannou was almost unknown in the boxing world until he was announced as a surprise opponent for Tyson Fury last year.
Though a decorated MMA heavyweight champion feared for his vast punching power, he was a boxing novice when he stepped into the ring against Fury in October.
As it transpired, that mattered little – he boxed supremely well, stayed relatively safe and even secured an infamous knockdown but eventually ran out the loser in a split decision.
Now, Ngannou is fighting Joshua on March 8 to close out Riyadh season in Saudi Arabia, while Fury moves on to his historic undisputed clash with Oleksandr Usyk.
Speaking to IFL TV, Warren previewed the clash between Ngannou and Joshua.
“It’s a very intriguing fight and it’s been spiced up by his performance against Tyson. It’s his second fight as a boxer but he’s had a long career with the UFC and was very successful there, he was the undisputed champion.”
Warren then spoke up Ngannou’s attributes.
“As Tyson will tell you, he does punch. In-fighting, that’s their game MMA fighters, and you’re talking about the top level. About somebody who shaped up and looked like a boxer again Tyson.
“We know he can box, we know he can punch, and he doesn’t stand square on like most MMA fighters. He can fight either stance southpaw or orthodox, so it’s an intriguing fight.”
Finally, he failed to predict a winner but claimed AJ had more info to go off going into the fight.
“If he catches AJ, who knows? The one thing AJ has got going into this fight is that he’s seen Ngannou in a boxing ring, whereas Tyson didn’t have that luxury.”