Francis Ngannou feels more confident after his impressive performance in his first professional boxing match against Tyson Fury.
This has boosted his morale for his upcoming fight against British heavyweight Anthony Joshua in Saudi Arabia.
Ngannou, a former UFC heavyweight champion, will face Joshua at Riyadh’s Kingdom Arena this Friday. In his debut match in October, Ngannou lost to WBC world champion Fury in a non-title bout by split decision.
The Cameroonian-French fighter almost caused an upset by knocking Fury down with a left hook during the fight.
“I feel confident enough, based on my training, the hard work that I put in,” Ngannou said in his pre-fight press conference.
“It [fight against Fury] was a good experience and it definitely guided me better to have proper training. Every space I have open, I am going to hit … I am not going to leave any stone unturned and any opportunity unexplored.”
Before the fight, many people are assuming that Joshua will win, setting him up to fight Fury if Fury beats Usyk in their upcoming match on May 18. This fight will determine the first undisputed heavyweight champion since 2000.
Anthony Joshua has been working hard to make a comeback after losing to Usyk twice. His recent fights have shown that he is getting back to his top form. Although his win against Jermaine Franklin Jr in April 2023 wasn’t very impressive, it did help him break a two-fight losing streak.
Joshua’s recent standout performances can be attributed to changes in his training camp. He started working with Ben Davison, who used to train Tyson Fury, before his fight against Robert Helenius in August 2023. This new partnership seems to have sparked something in Joshua.
He defeated Helenius with a powerful right punch and carried that momentum into a dominant performance against Otto Wallin in December. Wallin retired after Round 5. While it may be premature to say that Joshua is back to his old fearless self, he is definitely showing more determination in his fights compared to after his loss to Andy Ruiz.
