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Boxing

Anthony Joshua set for unique challenge against Francis Ngannou claims Eddie Hearn

Anthony Joshua set for unique challenge against Francis Ngannou claims Eddie HearnMatchroom
The heavyweight showdown takes place on March 8.

Promoter Eddie Hearn believes Francis Ngannou poses a huge challenge for Anthony Joshua when they meet on March 8 in Saudi Arabia. 

After making easy work of Otto Wallin in December, Joshua will now face the former UFC heavyweight champion in an intriguing contest. 

Joshua cannot afford any slip-ups against an opponent who will be featuring in just his second professional boxing bout after losing to Tyson Fury last October. 

While Ngannou may have been beaten by the WBC world heavyweight champion, he did manage to knock down Fury in the third round and emerged from the contest with plenty of plaudits. 

Looking ahead to the fight on Ariel Helwani's MMA Hour, Hearn explained why Ngannou is a threat to Joshua. 

"This is the first time AJ has fought an opponent that outsizes him," Hearn said. 

"This guy is huge, you have been around him plenty of times, when I turned to him at the press conference and started talking to him, and then I turned to AJ, it was like a cruiserweight and a heavyweight.

"So, this is a real threat. When those two come together, press conference, weigh-in, and in the ring in Riyadh, this is Godzilla and King Kong.

"Anything can happen in this fight; you land one shot on the chin and it’s over.

"I’m very confident that AJ is going to knock him out."

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