AJ v Ngannou

13/2 yesterday evening, 5/1 now. I imagine that even more money will go on Ngannou disproportionately. The fight opened yesterday as close to 50-50 in America and about 90/10 in Britain lol, such is the disparity in perception between Britain and the U.S. regarding Joshua.

It suggests that this is seen as a more dangerous fight for Joshua than Povetkin was, no doubt partly because Joshua is perceived to be more vulnerable now, despite performing well against Wallin (certainly his best winning performance since he beat Povetkin in 2018).

There's a strong argument that Ngannou is one of Joshua's most dangerous few opponents. Unlike most of Joshua's opponents, the very big, strong and powerful Ngannou has the ability to take the result out of the hands of Joshua's judges. Ngannou is also durable and 1.5-3.5 years younger than Joshua's best wins.

I posted this before the Fury-Ngannou fight, people were very reluctant to admit the obvious then:

Which of these three would you take to KO Joshua if your life depended on it?

Jermaine Franklin (part time factory worker, didn’t stop Pavel Sour over the full 10 rounds, who was smoked in 3 by Hughie, in 2 by Gorman and in 1 by Kabayel)

Carlos Takam (didn’t drop or stop any of his 11 best opponents, including Yoka and Forrest and didn’t drop or stop MMA journeyman Maldonado over the 10 round distance under boxing rules)

Francis Ngannou (GOAT MMA HW KO artist, has held the world record on a “PowerKube” punching machine since 2017)

 

You may have a point with me giving the opponent close fights as I also did not feel he deserved to win the worst ever fight in Heavyweight Boxing in Dusseldorf.

Both should have been kicked in the nads and disqualified for bringing the sport into disrepute.

 

Will be embarrassing for Fury if Ngannou is despatched without much trouble ala Wallin.

 

"the worst ever fight in Heavyweight Boxing in Dusseldorf."

Again this is a fringe view generally only held by hardcore Fury haters. Fury-Wlad is more watchable than half of Wlad's fights (compare to Wlad-Povetkin for a start) according to reviewers at Eyeonthering:

https://eyeonthering.com/fighters/wladimir-klitschko

It objectively had some entertainment value, especially at the time and if you were invested.

 

Depends. If Fury beats Usyk then Joshua beating Ngannou in style is just pissing in the wind.

 

It will need to be the Fury of Wlad or Wilder 2 to do that and I reckon that Fury won't be seen again.

 

Ngannou will certainly close at a much lower price than Takam, who you could've got at around 10-15/1. I really like this fight, mainly as I want to see how Ngannou will look. On the exchange you can lay Ngannou at just less than 4/1. IMHO the betting lines are overestimating Ngannou's performance vs Fury. While I believe Ngannou really put up a good fight on debut, Fury has a habit of looking lacklustre when a favourite (before factoring preparation/being shot to bits). Definitely think there's value on AJ in this matchup. All well said now - a friend of mine lost fair bit of money on Fury to KO Ngannou. Can't believe that is what the line opened at in the US.

 

I can honestly say without doubt it was the worst fight I have had to endure by a mile and I was present ringside at the Danny Williams v Audley 1 fight at the Excel Arena in December 2005.

The above was a complete stinker but Fury v Wlad somehow managed to be much worse.

Have not seen a stinker like it since and don't think it is possible for any fight to be worse than that garbage.

 

It also depends on how well Usyk performs and what Fury's allowed to get away with.

 

The only people who will agree with that take are hardcore Fury haters. You don't even like Wlad or his style so far as I understand, so you'd have to hate Fury for neutralising his style for one night and clearing him out, ending the 9.5 year reign. Nor was it Fury's fault that Wlad was unable or unwilling to adapt, the onus was on him to throw the kitchen sink at Fury which would have led to Fury countering and the fight being more entertaining.

 

It was a dull affair Beale but Okolie vs Light was the first to spring to my mind for me. Absolutely awful. Always have the allure of the Heavyweight Championship on the line if the fight itself is disappointing.

 

Fury beat McDermott in the second fight clearly, and won a close one in the first. Reasoned people don’t have an issue with that.

 

"Fury has a habit of looking lacklustre when a favourite (before factoring preparation/being shot to bits)."

True but I'm not sure there's value on Joshua as it stands. 4/11 for Joshua to stop Ngannou in a 10 rounder or 13/2 for Joshua on points? I'd go for the points. 6/1 on an Ngannou KO? I find it hard to get Ruiz 1 out of my head. Ngannou has the attributes to put Joshua into his shell, we've seen far lesser threats do it, plus Ngannou's durable. People are going overboard with the Wallin fight, who was very much a known quantity to Joshua and didn't have the attributes to threaten him.