Anthony Joshua vs Francis Ngannou: Official Preview

Ahead of their Friday March 8 showdown, we look at how Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou have been preparing for Knockout Chaos

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They spoke about this fight before he said you all good yeah I said no it’s a gimmick fight it’s not something that I think is right now that’s the biggest challenge of my life yeah work that is still here I’m looking forward to the challenge yes Francis I’m a boxer

Now for my own legacy I would do everything that’s possible to take him down if I wasn’t in the fight I would have been betting on AJ but I’m in the fight I’m better than me there we go Again Francis and ganu put the World Heavyweight Champion on his back so now instead of just chasing money he’s going to be trying to chase greatness I believe AJ is going to be UND disput champion and in an instant it’s all over this big dangerous heavyweight is back boom boxers can’t

Compete in MMA and for the most part MMA fighters can’t do well in boxing but there’s one guy who has proven that theory wrong and if he can do it on the 8th of March it will be one of the greatest stories in the history of Combat Sports it was is in the

[Applause] House it really is an intriguing time Anthony Joshua is now facing a man that in their first ever professional bout pushed the lineal heavyweight champion to the brink and nearly caused one of the biggest upsets in not only boxing in sport please welcome the Predator Francis I’m gone I’ve never known

Anybody to walk into a sport and compete it’s never been done before so now we take him very seriously and ganu fury was boxing versus MMA but now it seems like the boxing Community is adopting Francis or at least accepting him this fight it is still MMA versus boxing but

It does feel a lot more like just you know a boxing match which is tremendous which is what Francis always wanted I’m 72 next month I’ve never seen anything or been involved in anything like this in boxing this is just brilliant and if you’re a boxing fan you’re in boxing

Heaven Anthony Joshua he’s different than Tyson Fury he is always learning and trying to be a better heavyweight I feel like right now with him losing to usyk twice everybody he fights he feel like he has to get back to being the number one guy because he was the number one

Guy champion of the world I look at it’s huge Jeopardy for AJ these big guys get in the ring they throw bombs one of them land it’s all over you’re fighting number one and three back to back in your first boxing fights that’s crazy I always done crazy

Stuff are you not aware of it I’m aware it all comes to a nice conclusion here and we’re going to find out if Francis nanu can go one better and really upset the odds or will this be a formality for anley Joshua in this glamorous exciting fight Anthony josua it’s perfect balance perfect

Execution brilliant right hand from Joshua let H from Joshua wonderful variety beautiful shot oh boy he got caught with a one two piece and he’s up against the ropes oh it’s all over J’s [Applause] back and Victor fko scores it 116 to 112 for the winner by split decision and still the unified

Heavyweight champion of the world from Ukraine Alexander who even talking about right now it just makes me feel like chokes up a bit I wasn’t supposed to lose in my head and it just hurt the defeat I think he’s really angry I think he felt he won that fight tonight I think he did all he

Could when you put everything into something and what I gave wasn’t enough it’s not easy there’s no silver medal in boxing the only thing we get credit for is winning on that night a second defeat by the same fighter and I thought this might be the end of him at this highest

Level if we look back at his behavior after the second fight against Alexander usyk when he was criticized for what he did in the ring with the belts and what he was saying I think it’s clear that it’s been really difficult psychologically for Anthony Joshua how did you beat me let’s

Do this it was a am of time for him cuz he’s thinking do I get back to the the Pinnacle of of of the heavweight division why am I getting beat by a guy who’s half my size after the after math it’s done I lost but I still have so

Much to G I came back to the UK for Christmas and then early Jan um we ended up going to Dallas Texas to meet with Derek James he’s experienced absolutely everything the boxing going throw it yet he’s had setbacks the likes of had the Andy Ruiz fight now the around the

Usk fights everybody writes him off and says he’s done this lad is basically still a novice when it comes to boxing terms I think he’s had about 50 fights 60 fights in his whole life he’s bypassed so many levels because of athletically he’s just so good world champions to silver

Medalist Olympic gold medalist unified heavyweight champion it’s insane a peak AJ was probably the Vladimir Klitschko fight it was for phenomenal nearly ripped Vladimir Kitco head off with an uppercut I think you SE the picture where the neck stretches about free foot you look at anony Joshua

There you go do you know what after that fight you pretty much ticked every box AJ’s speed and development has gone so fast he’s always going to be playing catchup with the actual boxing experience because it’s only them rounds of and years and years years of being in

The gym that allows you to gain that experience and he’s getting it [Applause] now and now entering the arena AJ Anthony yesu the three performances of Joshua across 2023 I think signal that he’s coming back to something like his best good Ray hand behind it he was heavily criticized for his performance

First time out against Germaine Franklin in London the tough American I think that’s a performance that might actually age well good uppercut oh tremendous left uppercut wonderful variety I always felt like stamina was one of the issues that I was facing so you know for me

Personally to go on go and get 12 rounds under under my belt was really good it gave me confidence that my stamina is improving and I’m ready to now like let my hands go and if even if it goes to round I have no worries Anthony

Josua we box really well I thought but he didn’t show any Improvement on his mindset and that was to to step in with the jab and I’ve seen this Joshua for all the time the jab M wins him the [Applause] fight be my commands at all time defend yourselves at all time God bless touch clubs Robert helenus who know was a decent fighter like like Andy Ruiz back in 2019 he’s a decent fighter but you think Joshua should have the better of him but this new Joshua who lacks a bit

Of confidence helenus being a giant himself who knows and he didn’t box great it was a little tentative at times against helenius it was a little bit like are we going to see another one of those performances it’s good jaob to the body helenus late change late replacement

Completely different style I think it was on like the Friday or fight week or something like that at first it was a bit not challenging but I had to download the information that helenius was presenting me and once I done that I knew what I had to do the right hand

That finished that fight against helenius is what everyone had been waiting for that was why everyone was there at the O2 that night oh and in an instant it’s all over the Finish was great and what was great about the Finish not the just not the

Everyone goes about the punch it was the commitment to the attack and listening to Derek James he jabbed up jabbed down took the step with the front foot and it threw the right hand right through his head and knocked him spark out and I thought he believes he can do it now

Anthony Joshua’s fights up late have largely been built around the Jabs if there was ever an opponent for him to go back to being the seeking destroy fighter he was earlier in his career it’s Auto Ballin let’s get ready to rumble last time out against Oto Walling

We see it again this precise accurate hurtful punching he so exciting to watch it’s so hard to beat now this is good boxing really good stuff yeah what motivated me the most it was good cuz I had all my enemies in one room promoters that had come together that have trash

Taught me journalists that that had come together cuz they trash talk me Fighters had to come together that trash talk me so I was motivated to make my mark and stump my ground that day let him know I’m the king of the heavweight division there’s that right hand to the

Body it’s a lovely shot well against Oto Wallen he grabbed the fire by the sruff of the neck he got straight to the center of the ring and he backed up exactly what he was saying in the the buildup um that he was going to bully he

Was going to out gun and he done that after that helenus out we just see an Anthony Joshua back to the old mentality style of fighting if you like boy he got caugh with a one two piece and he’s up against the ropes it was the first time

For a long time that I thought yeah this is anley Joshua this is not the guy we’ve seen the last few years masquerading as as an Joshua this is this is him and I thought it was a fantastic performance from the first round to the Finish he was just on that

Seek and D destroy I’m going to knock you out I’m back confidence is there nobody’s stopping me now I’m levels above you and it really really turn some heads oh it’s over they’ve stopped the fight confident powerful sharp everything was firing on all cylinders Joshua’s back I think what happened to

Him in 2023 has been a massive boost for his career as far as rebuilding is concerned and finding that old to use that word again AJ with the Seek and Destroy mentality I think it was a box TX it was a successful 2023 but he wasn’t the only one the

Predator wow good left o from angu andu finding some Big Shots Out of Nowhere still plenty of fight in the M from Camaro big shot from angu who dances after his success unbelievable [Applause] scenes break when I say oh big shot from angu who dancing is

After his success and suddenly we have a fight wow Tyson Fury down against Francis and garu unbelievable scenes Tyson Fury underestimated Francis and didn’t do his homework didn’t look him up and just kind of was like oh this is just a Payday I’mma beat this MMA

Fighter up I don’t think he took it seriously and that’s why he was able to shock Tyson Fury and put him on his back it really is amazing to see Francis you know in these big events with all this fan fear and all these eyes and all this

Attention on him cuz you’ve got to imagine how far remove that is from his early life from the beginning of Francis and gano’s Story I mean you know he started from literally nothing leaving Cameroon trying to find a a better life for himself better opportunities the arduous

Journey that he went on to find himself in France and and to try and find a boxing gym to walk into this man has overcome so much he’s working in the sand in Cameroon for like a dollar a day and then he escapes and he’s put in detention centers and he almost dies

Multiple times cuz he’s on a raft and he’s in the middle of nowhere he’s in Morocco and then he’s in Spain and then he makes it to France like the idea that this guy is even here thriving now is one of the most famous athletes in the world is

Unfathomable yes it was hot not the good memories I would say I’m grateful of the life that I had of the paath that I have even though he was tough but he leted me here here but I wouldn’t do it again if I was to choose it I always love

Movies everything combat related the first poster that I saw was a poster of Rambo in my dad’s room I think I was maybe five or four and I’m like wow dreaming for a sport already was a problem we didn’t have any example of somebody that has succeeded from doing

Sport like boxing he was silly according to people even to dream about it you should just focus on like being a good Builder or a good carpender or a good farmer that’s the limit and I’m like man yeah but I’m not satisfied by that answer the only reason why I ever

Thought of living Cameroon was to go somewhere uh to find an opportunity to box if you wasn’t about boxing I wouldn’t leave my country at all just driven by The Dream he ends up in Paris and he’s sleeping in a parking garage and he

Finds a gym and it just so happens to be an MMA gym and not a boxing gym and the guys tell him like yeah great I mean like look at that guy of course I would love to train you but I’m going to train you in MMA everybody around is just

Talking about MMA this for that they wrestle they go to the ground I want no business to do with MMA I want boxing so but when I look back to the reason why I wanted to do boxing I find the same element in MMA the first fight was a tournament in

Paris only thing that I get from that fight was two tickets and it was € 10 a ticket so I gave it to friend then 4 months after in April 2014 I had another tournament €2,000 was the price of that tournament did you win of course I won hey come

On come when I receive a call from the UFC might not be what I wanted I get something I have to start somewhere he has world ending power the highlight real nature of his Knockouts and we saw that all the way through his MMA career

Hit a bit of a struggle when he met Ste M that was the only fight that I really like go to knock him out he didn’t go well then I went back and then have to deal with my demons at that moment and then I look for the first flight to

Cameron I was feeling so low about myself so bad and then I went home and then I had a warm welcome they celebrating me the energy in Cameron was so positive then after that I came back and I come back to my reality that was really where for me Inu turned

The corner and after the point where he regrouped he just terrorized the division all the way to the Belt all right so this is gigantic news this is massive news Francis zanu is a quote unquote free man and it appears at least for now that his UFC career is

Over and if you look at his story you know that boxing is that big itch that he never got to scratch that was the original Dream people don’t relinquish their heavyweight title in the UFC and Venture into free agency without any idea of where they’re going to go and to be able

To then step into heavyweight boxing on the platform that he did and do what he did he turned the world upside down in that moment they scarfed at every single interview and move that he was making leading up to that point and he gets the pfl deal and people are still scoffing

And then he gets the Tyson Fury fight and people are still scoffing you guys not realize what this man has been through his whole life has been following his dreams and overcoming the odds and he prepares for the fury fight and what are they saying you see that

Guy on the MS that’s an amateur he doesn’t know what he’s doing this is going to be embarrassing Fury’s going to mop the floor with him and then of course what happens and even if you don’t think he won the fight via the scorecards he won the night now everyone who was scoffing

At him wants to be in business with him you know shout out to my friend Eddie Hearn he was scoffing at him beforehand and after that fight he says let’s do the enanu Joshua fight I mean how could you not smile that’s a beautiful

Thing this my game is going to end on my way as I decide I just go out to have fun and great things happen Joshua as he goes into this franu fight I do think we’ll see the best of that Joshua I think it’s great that he’s maneuvered himself around trainers

Because you’ll pick bits up from all of them I think he had an amazing trainer Robert McCracken I think he’s experienced good times with James I don’t care how he want it I just wanted him to win now he’s with Ben Davidson each and every trainer will offer him a

Little bit of something you just want to see him now progress on I would like to see a bit more Brute from AJ and I do believe now with Ben Davis see that more regular short sharp change of tempo I can see during the rounds against Oto Wallen taking on board everything Ben

Davidson saying and that’s trust wow Tyson Fury down against Francis and garu I think it’s important for him to jump on Joshua early try and really unsettle him by any means necessary get close to Joshua making feel your strength he made Joshua look skinny at the press conference so if he can push

Him back and put a panic on him Joshua might unravel tiny advantage in height but the depth ofu is ridiculous he’s a scary physical specimen and of course AJ is as well but I just don’t think he’s he’s witnessed anybody that can move him around in a clinch like in was going to

Do Francis andu has got to get as close to Ane Joshua as he can and just hit anything there are so many different reasons why this fight could go south very very quickly for AJ he might get clipped with a big shot and feel his

Legs go all of a sudden and if he hits the canvas does he get back up and box clever like Fury does for the rest of the fight I don’t know he does but there are vulnerabilities and I feel somebody like Anthony Joshua will be able to make the

Most of those LM back an awful lot and though he took the sting out of the shot from Tyson Fury he was caught with a lot of right hands and I feel AJ what he does really well when he keeps things simple is brings his feet in double jab

And it throws the right hand I expect AJ to win this fight through discipline through educ pressure through being smart from being better making G work franu is not faster than anyone he’s faced he’s not stronger than anyone he’s faced the only difference with this man is his mindsets on a whole different

Level when you look at his background where he’s come from what he’s done to get where he’s got he’s a bit of an enigma but I just think if Josh goes in there and lets his hands go he gets rid of enanu in double quick time I feel

Like AJ is the perfect person for enanu to fight cuz if he cracks him he can hurt him we’ve seen him hurt if he hurts him he’s going to Rattle him and if he rattles him you might not be able to recover from that and he’s not quite as

Tricky as Fury right he’s not quite as elusive he’s a bit more stiff and a bit more rigid his head is going to be a bit more easy to connect with for for me it’s a much better fight for inani this one is this is what I’m interested in seeing andu up

Close at range at arms length there’s only one winner he cannot cannot beat antie Joshua at range but for us as Spectators that makes it very exciting because if he can get close to Anthony Joshua you never know heavyweight game one punch can change everything

Oh I really do feel like it doesn’t go the distance I just see someone getting clocked knockout it just comes naturally we both are going to look for a knockout which I don’t think is a problem we’re going to find out if Fran andu can go

One better and really upset the odds I think Inu is going to double to bully and push AJ around I heard that he doesn’t have a chin I hope I had the opportunity to test that out I’m driven by The Dream the statement that I want

To make my own legacy that I want to view or will this be a formality frankly joshu are if the Joshua from the last fight turns up I got a feeling he might go right through him I’ll do whatever it takes I will be victorious I have my own

Legacy my own chapter my own destiny knock out chaos knock out chaos com to Saudi Arabia March 8th live on [Applause] this