Two-division world champion and fight analyst Paulie Malignaggi has broken down Anthony Joshua’s upcoming showdown against Francis Ngannou, where he laid out the foundations for Joshua to outperform Tyson Fury and dominate against the Cameroonian.
Ngannou looked solid on his boxing debut, knocking down Fury and losing a controversial split-decision, shocking combat sports fans around the globe in the process. Now the former UFC sensation has the opportunity to go one better and attempt to defeat Joshua.
On Pro Box TV, Malignaggi outlined the importance of Joshua putting Ngannou on the back-foot, although that is easier said than done against someone with the power of ‘The Predator’.
“I feel like he is going to back up Ngannou, I feel like he is going to take control of the ring the same way he took centre ring against Wallin and have that command from a psychological confidence and also physical perspective.
“I feel like Joshua’s confidence has grown this past year, he looks less tentative, the Wallin fight really showed me that he wants to take back the control of the ring and that he is back at his best.”
Malignaggi went on further, believing that Joshua is capable of dominating the fight if he performs at his best.
“He [Ngannou] is sort of a one-trick pony, he is not a boxer, he’s done very well but he is not a boxer. When you back up a puncher, even a boxer who is a puncher, typically they end up running out of bullets because they are reliant on their heavy punching power.
“If Joshua starts to back up Ngannou with a solid jab, throwing him off rhythm with that stuff that he does when he is sharp, intimidates him with him his own power because Joshua does have good power, he is going to make Ngannou inept and dominate that fight.”
Joshua-Ngannou will take place on Friday March 8th in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia with undercard details now officially confirmed.