Francis Ngannou out to prove himself — again — against a well-prepared Anthony Joshua

Tyson Fury crashed to the mat, dropped by a Francis Ngannou left hook that produced one of the most shocking moments in recent boxing history.

It wasn't part of the script. Ngannou, after all, was making his professional boxing debut that October evening, and he was sharing the ring with one of the greatest of all time.

Fury didn't seem to take Ngannou seriously – he entered the ring in very bad shape – and the former UFC heavyweight champion took advantage of the champion's miscalculation.

Ngannou, 37, knows he won't be underestimated a second time. Anthony Joshua, the former unified heavyweight champion who Ngannou meets Friday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in his second boxing match, was given 10 rounds of Ngannou's film to study.

And after the way Ngannou boxed Fury, Joshua (27-3, 24 KO) surely prepared well with so much on the line.

“Now I know this guy can fight. I know. There is no element of surprise. »

Anthony Joshua on Francis Ngannou

“I know Anthony Joshua could come out of this even stronger than Tyson Fury because he knows I can handle him,” Ngannou told ESPN on Sunday. “But still, I have a little more confidence than last time, even though I know it could be a tougher battle because… Anthony Joshua at least knows what to prepare for.”

Ngannou also has a better idea of ​​how to prepare for a boxing match after 10 rounds with the division's best as well as two boxing training camps with trainer Dewey Cooper.

Cameroon's Ngannou said that in the Fury camp it took him “two months to train for about eight rounds”. Of course, Ngannou was used to five-minute MMA fights scheduled in three or five rounds.

“After eight rounds, it was so hard,” said Ngannou, whose last MMA fight was a January 2022 victory over Ciryl Gane to retain his UFC heavyweight championship. “But now, at the start of this camp, the first fight was eight rounds.

“I'm calmer. I know how to handle 10 laps and all that. And after 10 laps, I don't fall on the ground [from exhaustion]. And I have even better training partners this time. … Even in [this] In training camp, my body mechanics were a little better, I understand the sport a little better. I had experience doing 10 laps, it's something I was questioning since I've never done it.”

Ngannou said he's “still working on getting a better jab…he's working on that footwork. I love footwork even though I'm damn heavy.” [272 pounds against Fury]”Naturally, the footwork is very different in a boxing ring compared to the Octagon. But it appears Ngannou is a willing student, and he will have to be, given the contrasting style Joshua plans to employ against him.

Fury opted to box Ngannou off the back foot and earned a majority decision victory in October, while Joshua returned to his search-and-destroy style in December's victory over Otto Wallin. This fight was Joshua's first with trainer Ben Davison, after two fights with Derrick James leading his corner.

The result: Joshua looked rejuvenated in a surprisingly one-sided fifth-round TKO victory over Wallin, which gave Fury all he could handle in 2019.

“I got to a point where I was trying to change my style [with James]be a back boxer behind the jab, stay and move, don't be explosive, kind of control the pace and stuff like that,” Joshua, 34, said in January. “But Ben told me, 'Listen , it's not your body. guy, at the end of the day, you're a big fucking unit, you're explosive, knocking fucking people out.'”

This is exactly what Joshua did against Wallin. The performance was impressive for many reasons, but perhaps most of all because of the confidence with which Joshua boxed.

Since being upset by Andy Ruiz Jr. in June 2019 via seventh-round TKO, Joshua has appeared hesitant to unleash his power shots, while his chin has been deemed fragile.

He got revenge on Ruiz later that year to regain his three heavyweight titles. He lost them again, losing two fights to Oleksandr Usyk, who will meet Fury for the undisputed championship on May 18 in Riyadh.

“I’m definitely refreshed,” Joshua said. “I think people underestimate me. They think they can just come and put pressure on me and do this and that. … Ngannou has to go through me as well. So, he's looking at someone who knows how to fight.

“I'm a powerful puncher myself. I break people's eye sockets. I broke Wallin's nose and eye socket; [Robert] Helenius blew himself up. Dillian Whyte fucking ruined his career with the uppercut. …I was the first person to give up [Andy] Ruiz in his career. … “[Ngannou] must also take care of me. I'll be there.”

England's Joshua was lined up to face Deontay Wilder on Friday in a long-awaited heavyweight battle, but Wilder was upset by Joseph Parker on the Joshua-Wallin undercard in December. That’s when Ngannou intervened.

“Even though I fought Tyson Fury, it’s still my second fight in boxing,” Ngannou said. “I'm not an Olympic champion. I don't have an amateur career, nothing. But yes, I'm going to face a former [unified] champion, an Olympic [gold medalist]. I'm going after him and I really intend to eliminate him. So it's the same thing [as Fury]”.

Ngannou is once again the underdog — +300, according to ESPN BET — and really has no business competing against an elite heavyweight like Joshua in only his second boxing match. But Ngannou has already proven once that he is not to be taken lightly and his devastating power in the Octagon has carried over to the boxing ring.

This highlight of Ngannou grounding Fury in round three won't soon be forgotten. Sure, Fury came off the canvas and won the fight, but it proved that Ngannou is a special fighter, even if he never wins a boxing match.

“It wasn’t a clean shot,” Ngannou said. “I was even surprised that Tyson Fury fell because of that punch.”

But what happens if Ngannou connects on Joshua with a powerful shot?

“Nobody takes a big hit,” Ngannou said.

If Ngannou can land a big punch, his performance against Fury can never again be called a fluke – it's not fair to say that now. But if Joshua criticizes Ngannou in a dominant way, Ngannou knows what people will say.

And there's much more at stake for Joshua, who can ill afford a loss to an MMA fighter as he strives to win the fight with Fury that has long been considered the greatest in history from the United Kingdom.

“Now I know this guy can fight. I know“, Joshua said. “There is no element of surprise. 'He's going to be shit. He won't be able to move. He's going to have some footwork. His feet will feel like they're stuck in sand. No, he can move; it can manifest itself.

“What makes a good fight is a boring fight because one person has to be so dominant that the other person can't do anything. And I want it to be like a fight where he hits me, I hit him . … It took me 10 rounds to hit him with a knockout shot. I just want to be dominant for sure.”

Ngannou is unsure when he will return to MMA, where he signed with the PFL. He said he might compete in MMA this year, but his priority is mounting a challenge for the undisputed heavyweight championship in a boxing ring against whoever emerges from a pair of fights between Fury and Usyk.

Joshua and Ngannou are pursuing the same goal, even though they took very different paths to get there.

“I’m not done yet,” Ngannou said. “I plan to do more and more.”