Joe Joyce is one of the few men to have sparred both Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou ahead of their intriguing crossover bout, and he has now revealed his belief that Joshua may struggle to get back to his feet if Ngannou lands a trademark power shot.
During his time in the UFC, all but two of the Cameroonian’s victories came by knockout and all ten came in the first or second round. This is what made Ngannou an eyebrow-raising test for Fury, with some UFC fans claiming he could punch harder than Deontay Wilder.
True to form, ‘The Predator’ was able to knock the WBC champion down on his boxing debut, although he was unable to keep him there.
Now Ngannou is aiming to go one better and score a first professional win in the sport against the two-time champion Joshua, and Joyce told Sky Sports that he can’t envisage ‘AJ’ getting back to his feet if he were to take the punch that landed on ‘The Gypsy King’.
“Because he’s an MMA fighter and he’s not really been concentrating on boxing, he was a little bit more open and I could kind of see where the shots were coming from, move out the way and keep him on the jab. But them power shots are whistling past my abs and my chin in the process!”
“Of course. If he lands one of those big shots like he hit Fury with then I don’t think Joshua’s going to get up from that.
“He [Joshua] will probably be cagey in there. I think it’s going to be a good fight. As a match up they’ve both got power. I think it’s a great fight.”
Joshua-Ngannou goes ahead next Friday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and is available to watch on both Sky Sports Box Office and DAZN PPV, while Joyce returns to the ring a week later when he faces Kash Ali in Birmingham.