Amir Khan has given his take on the upcoming heavyweight showdown between Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou ahead of their highly-anticipated showdown in two weeks.
The two men meet on March 8 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with Ngannou looking to build on his impressive boxing debut in October, where the former UFC heavyweight champion scored a third-round knockdown against WBC title-holder Tyson Fury.
Joshua had a 2023 to remember, picking up wins over Otto Wallin, Robert Helenius and Jermaine Franklin, following his back-to-back defeats to Oleksandr Usyk.
Khan has now shared his thoughts on the upcoming bout whilst speaking to All Out Fighting, and while the former multi-world champion backs his countryman to do the business, he knows just how dangerous Ngannou can be.
“I think Joshua is a very smart fighter. It will still be a hard fight because you’ve got to understand, Ngannou’s got more confidence going into this fight and he thinks he can hurt, and knock out Joshua.
“He says that Joshua’s got a weak chin, so he’s going to go for that really, and try to throw those big bombs. If he connects, who knows what might happen. One thing about the heavyweight division is that if one punch lands it can change a fight.
“[Tyson Fury’s] one hard fighter to hit clean. So many top guys have tried to knock him out, knock him down or hurt him. Not to sound disrespectful; I like Joshua, I think he’s a great fighter but I think he’s easier to hit than Fury.
“The way people look at boxing now, after that fight with Fury, is that boxers are a little bit weaker than MMA fighters. This is where Joshua needs to show them that boxer’s are not weaker; boxer’s are better and stronger.”
While Ngannou lost his professional debut to Fury on points, his performance has put him in contention for another crack at the heavyweight championship.
A win over Joshua would put him on course to face the winner of Fury-Usyk, who battle it out on May 18 in the Middle East.