Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou •

This is going to be fascinating.

Did Francis peak or is there more to him than people think.

I don't even think he needs to pressure I think he can sit back and hit Joshua on the counter his arms are deceptively long and he had fury doubting he could get in and out without being caught.

I'd be surprised if Joshua can stop him unless it's some dodgy stoppage like the takam one where he kept looking at the ref to help him out when he was blowing out of his arse.

But id never say never in a sport as unpredictable as boxing.

Intriguing stuff.

Anyway this is just a novelty show.

The best fight of the night is ball vs Vargas on the undercard.

Come on Nick smash him.

 

AJ has been hurt several times and he couldn`t hurt Parker who was destroyed by Joyce, Francis has destroyed fighters with one shot in tyhe UFC, AJ doesn`t have one punch KO power.

 

It will be like AJ v Ruiz 2 because like Ruiz Francis can`t cut the ring off, AJ is open to left hooks though so Francis will be a live dog the whole fight, boring points win I think.

 

Thing is Francis unlike Ruiz has a longer reach than Joshua so it's quite hard to play it safe from the outside like he did against Ruiz. Also if he does get hurt or wants to catch his breath it's very hard to tie him up on the inside.

 

Joshua is going to erase Francis. The Fury fight was a fluke. If Joshua actually goes for it they are going to have to scrape Francis off the canvas.

 

Impossible to say if Ngannou hits as hard or harder than AJ.

Whatever difference there is between them in terms of power, it might be so negligible as to see little or no practical purpose in factoring same.

BUT, it is worth nothing that Francis did hit hard enough to hurt and drop Fury, and cause Tyson to be that bit less willing to engage him thereafter.

I’ve had my gripes about the Gypsy King but fair to say he’s reasonably upheld himself to be a pretty tough cookie.

Did Wilder ever garner the respect that Fury apparently afforded Ngannou during his fight against Francis?

I might be wrong, but IMO that left that dropped Fury was clearly less than full tilt power from Ngannou - so if Fury’s resilience didn’t take a sudden nose dive in that fight, that’s some power that was exhibited there.

Another key for me is that Ngannou might possess more raw power than AJ, therefore requiring less skill and set up to get the power hit(s) home.

The importance of Francis’ tremendous reach has already been cited.

I think Ngannou’s initial pro bout success against Fury wasn’t necessarily a fluke - he had successes throughout a 10 round fight.

I also don’t think his cross over success reflected a general superiority of an MMA guy over a boxing guy.

Not a biased defence of boxing - it’s just how I objectively see it.

For one thing, Francis is a unique phenom. Hardly a general representation or even a reflection of a small, more elite, group of MMA fighters.

No, Francis is head and shoulders above and on his own - well transcendent of the sport of MMA itself.

For another thing, I think his success was isolated to a division where size, strength and power have never been more pronounced and more advantaged - with skill being a somewhat diminished value as compared to past ATG HWs - barring Usyk.

Below HW in boxing, skills are still a significant feature to success, so any MMA fighters crossing over below HW would be far more up against it vs their appreciably better skilled boxing counterparts.

 

Apologies if this has already been posted - I haven’t spotted it.

Not too shabby imo. What do others think?

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If aj actually boxes similar to Ruiz rematch it will be a whitewash. If he loses discipline and gets hit he has no chance

 

Surely AJ kos Ngannou in a few rounds. I can't see Ngannou landing anything and will instead get smashed by AJ round after round. AJs big weakness is against nimble heavyweights with fast hands.

 

It's boxing 101. The very basics. That's how simple this fight will be or not be. It's no secret Fury has neglected his jab post Wilder 2 due to injury and failed to use it properly against Francis but his diminished jab just about got him through.

Will Francis BEAT AJ to the jab?
Will Francis be able to counter past the jab?
Will Francis just walk through the jab?!

Or will Francis simply get stuck there unable to get out of the box that AJ is trying to put him in.

I think we're in for a treat, A Cameroonian gateau. A sweet delight.

WAR FRANCOIS

 

No vision. No heart. No soul. No emotion. Saudi's lack it. Live in airy fairy land all their ancestors are rolling in their graves.

Supposed to be promoting a non existent game?

 

We’re in for a very boring fight, AJ will have studied the Fury fight and will just jab jab jab at a distance for the full 10 rounds

 

No offence to those who like it. Each to their own and all that, but not for me. These things seem to be just getting more and more overblown. The Usyk Fury one was similarly too much. It's not just a Saudi influence as was suggested either as there's been a gradual slide towards over hyping things for a long time.

Then again it's entirely possible that I am just a grumpy nostalgic old man. So feel free to ignore.

 

Ngannus power is real mate.

It's like wilders he is capable of rendering someone unconscious.

It's like a natural ggg or beterbiev type power.

The look on Tysons face when he hit him with those little punches in the clinch whilst holding him with the other hand.

Reminded me of that Stevens fellas face who said Gennady had no power when he got hit by him lol

 

I've watched a few tapes. You can get AJ scared of using his jab quite easily to be honest and he'll look for his lead right instead. Fury wasn't keen on his own jab either. Just touching, tried to get the lateral movement going but was not fit or ready to fight that style.

All you need is a little fluidity and AJ becomes dazzled.