Former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou has signed to box former two-time unified world heavyweight titleholder Anthony Joshua in March. The event takes place in Saudi Arabia.
Ngannou left the UFC after failing to come to terns on a new contract. Part of the contract negotiation and hangup was Ngannou’s desire to have the ability to do boxing matches. He inked a deal to box heavyweight champion Tyson Fury last October after parting ways with the mixed martial arts promotion. The fight went the distance.
Ngannou not only went the distance, he knocked Fury down early in the bout. Ngannou maintains to this day that he won the fight and the decision was a ‘robbery.’ As a result of his boxing debut performance, Ngannou was ranked inside the Top 10 of the WBC rankings.
With his second boxing opponent booked, Ngannou faces Joshua and former two-division UFC champion Daniel Cormier believes “The Predator” gets the job done.
“Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou is going to be a fun fight only happening, though, because of the way Ngannou competed against Tyson Fury,” Cormier said on his YouTube Channel. “Who is going to be better than he was when he fought the lineal heavyweight champion in his first professional fight.”
“I believe it’s going to be a better, more manageable fight for Francis Ngannou because of the way Anthony Joshua approaches fights. Anthony Joshua does not want to get knocked out,” Cormier continued. “If you asked me this six months ago, I’d have said no chance. You ask me today, I think Francis has a chance and I think Francis is going to get it done.”
Joshua opened as a heavy favorite by oddsmakers, but Ngannou finding success against top boxers in the world was also a long shot.
https://www.mmaweekly.com/news/daniel-cormier-thinks-francis-ngannou-gets-it-done-against-anthony-joshua