Promoter Eddie Hearn is psyched up about Anthony Joshua’s contest against Francis Ngannou on March 8th, and he’s predicting a knockout for AJ within eight rounds for their clash in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Joshua (27-3, 24 KOs) needs to defeat ‘The Predator’ Ngannou to get the much-coveted chance to fight for the undisputed heavyweight championship.
Why Hearn Is So Confident
- Win over Otto Wallin: AJ’s sixth-round stoppage victory over Otto Wallin, a guy that Tyson Fury struggled to beat in 2019, has given Hearn confidence that AJ has improved since his losses to Oleksandr Usyk, and the old Joshua is back. He’s been retooled with the help of his new coach, Ben Davison, who has mentally and physically transmogrified him into the same fighter he was when he was rolled off the lot in 2013 after signing with Hearn. AJ is now sparkling brand new now, and Hearn is beaming about it like a proud papa.
- Joshua’s Wear-Down Strategy: Eddie sees AJ using pressure to drain the strength from the hard-hitting Ngannou through the first seven rounds before taking him out with a flurry of shots in the eighth.
- Targeting Undisputed: The focus on the undisputed championship gives Joshua something to shoot for to give him the motivation he needs to win this fight. Having that extra incentive is important for Joshua because the only thing to accomplish from beating the novice Ngannou is to do a better job than Fury did in beating him.
Hearn has wanted Joshua to accomplish that feat for ages and is now on the doorstep of making that happen.
Granted, the Saudis are allowing Joshua to take the backdoor to that prestigious championship by paying to have him fight the 0-1 novice Ngannou rather than one of the proven world-level fighters like Zhilei Zhang, but AJ has done enough in his career to be given preferential treatment so that he can circumvent the dangerous opposition.
After all, he’s a former two-time heavyweight champion and a 2012 Olympic gold medalist. That should be enough to give him a free ride.
“I do. I believe that he is going to wear him down and chop him down, and by the end of the eighth round, this fight will be over, and Anthony Joshua will be ready to fight for the undisputed world championship,” said Hearn to Matchroom Boxing about his prediction that Joshua knocks out Ngannou within eight rounds.
