Eddie Hearn, promoter of former two-time unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, has expressed his nervousness ahead of Joshua’s upcoming fight with Francis Ngannou, the lineal MMA heavyweight champion, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Eddie Hearn’s got the jitters. Why? Anthony Joshua’s bout with Francis Ngannou, that’s why.
Ngannou nearly pulled off a stunner last year. His boxing debut saw him lose a hotly contested split decision to Tyson Fury, the lineal heavyweight champ. He even managed to floor Fury in the third round. Now, he’s set for his second boxing match against Joshua, a former two-time unified heavyweight champion. The showdown is a 10-round boxing match in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Hearn’s guy is up against the lineal MMA heavyweight champ. No wonder he’s feeling a bit twitchy.
“This fight’s a big deal,” Hearn confessed to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour. “Every time we talk about it, I get a little scared. I get butterflies. I know you think he could win this fight.” He recently visited AJ at the gym. “He’s treating this like it’s Tyson Fury times 10. He’s taking this fight very seriously.”
Frank Warren’s been talking about the risk in this fight. “That’s a great word for this fight,” Hearn agrees. “If you lose, you’ve lost to a 0-1 guy.” But Turki Alashikh, his excellency, has said the winner will fight for undisputed against the winner of Fury-Usyk. “That’s a dream chance for us. We’ve been chasing that for so long. I can’t tell you how much I believe AJ will beat Francis Ngannou. Then he’ll beat the winner of Fury-Usyk and become the undisputed heavyweight world champion.”
Hearn’s been full of praise for Ngannou. But he initially dismissed Ngannou’s chances in boxing. Even after the Fury fight, Hearn thought Ngannou over-performed and that Fury wasn’t ready. The fight’s less than two weeks away, and Hearn still thinks that. But it’s not doing his nerves any good.
“A week on Friday, two giants will meet in the ring in Riyadh,” Hearn said. “This is the first time AJ has fought an opponent that out-sizes him. This guy is huge. This is a real threat. This is Godzilla and King Kong. This is two ginormous men, and anything can happen in this fight. One shot on the chin and it’s over.”
Hearn’s confident AJ will knock him out. But a promo dropping in the next couple of days made him think. “Maybe this is just one of those guys you hit on the chin and nothing really happens. So it might have to be a systematic breakdown of smart boxing. But I still stand by what I tell you every time I see you: I don’t believe he can walk into elite level boxing and beat these guys.”
“Against Fury, was it a great performance? Yes. Was Fury under-prepared? Yes. Was Fury confused about what he was getting? Yes. We’ve got 10 rounds of footage to dissect. That’s better than none. But I’m nervous. Very nervous.”
Ngannou, of course, thinks Hearn should be nervous. The former UFC heavyweight champion is known for his punching power. He dropped Fury, who has one of the legendary chins in heavyweight boxing.
Joshua’s had his own durability questioned since being famously upset by Anthony Ruiz in 2019. Ngannou’s promised to test that durability. But Hearn believes Joshua has something better for this fight.
“In a tactical battle, with a good standup boxer like Anthony Joshua, you should be much too good for this guy. The mental aspect is one of the big challenges in this fight. You must not fear Ngannou, and that’s very difficult not to do,” Hearn said. “You’ve got to be aggressive, smart, vicious in your attacks. You can’t let him feel like he can walk you down, get you in the clinch, overpower you. He didn’t want to be that active against Fury. He liked the breaks. You’ve got to box at a rhythm and a tempo that will actually tire him out. If this is a fast-paced fight, by rounds four, five, six, this fight will be over. He won’t be able to stand up. Fury let him rest.”
But it might not matter. Even Hearn admits that while Ngannou might not be the most talented boxer in the world, “The Predator” seems to have a way of bending the world to his will. He has the tools to do it again.
“One thing also, which we can’t necessarily fathom, is the confidence that fight gave Francis Ngannou,” Hearn said. “That’s what scares me more. This guy is just built different. He has no fear. He should be half-petrified that he’s fighting a guy that has boxed 10 years at the top level. But he’s not. He’s thinking [holds up fist], ‘One of these on the chin and it’s all over.'”
Ngannou and Joshua face off on March 8 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.