When Anthony Joshua meets former UFC champion Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia on March 8th, he wants to do better than Tyson Fury. As is well known, he narrowly missed an embarrassing defeat against the boxing novice in the fall. “AJ” likes to take a swipe at the “Gypsy King”.
The Englishman told “DAZN” that he “doesn’t look at all” at how he performs against Ngannou compared to Fury: “But if you look at it: every opponent that Fury and I have in common – I knocked out everyone or stopped. Any opponent. I just have to do what I have to do. I’ve never been in a competition with him (Fury) for that matter. But if you talk in facts and statistics: I’ve broken everyone’s nose or knocked them out , who we fought, who were similar. We’ll see what happens.”
Against the hard-hitting Ngannou, “AJ” has the chance to prove his point.
The Cameroonian sensationally knocked Fury to the ground at the end of October in a duel that many observers derided as an exhibition fight. After ten rounds, the fistfight debutant narrowly lost with 1:2 judges’ votes.
Joshua was last in the ring in December, beating Otto Wallin for five rounds in Riyadh before the Swede gave up. Fury fought twelve rounds against Wallin in Las Vegas in 2019 and even suffered a deep cut.
Boxing: Fury and Joshua defeated Klitschko
Conversely, the “Gypsy King” himself has the opportunity to refute Joshua’s cross-comparison theory on February 17th. In the fight for all heavyweight world championship belts, the 2.06 meter giant will face Oleksandr Usyk. He won against Joshua on points in 2021 and 2022.
Another common opponent on the British record is heavyweight legend Wladimir Klitschko. Fury boxed out the then 39-year-old Ukrainian in a twelve-round duel in Düsseldorf in 2015, sensationally ending Klitschko’s almost ten-year reign over the premier class.
Joshua stopped Klitschko in front of 90,000 spectators at Wembley Stadium in 2017 after a thrilling ring battle in round eleven. Unlike Fury, he also polished the ring floor himself against “Dr. Steelhammer”. Almost every cross-comparison has its sides.