With a heavyweight clash between Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou on the schedule for March 8, both fighters say down with DAZN for a face to face conversation about their fight and there expectations around it. Check out some excerpts below with the full video interview in the link above.
Joshua on making a fight with Ngannou
“They spoke about this fight before and I said ‘no, it’s a gimmick fight, it’s not something that I think is right — crossing over when I’m still chasing heavyweight glory,’ Joshua said. “And then I think when they saw what happened with his last fight, the situation with Wilder, this opportunity presented itself. I never turned down a challenge and I’m looking forward to it.”
Joshua on what he made of Ngannou’s performance against Fury
“I think if I box Tyson Fury a lot of similarities will happen in the fight so I am not surprised at all in terms of his style, who Fury is, it’s just a boxing match. Well done to both of them, they put on an entertaining fight but that’s in the past. That’s how boxing is, and we move forward now.”
Ngannou on if he had any reservations about taking Joshua fight
“I asked for this fight. I watched him fight and then I made a tweet right away. Why? Because there was an opportunity and I know he was going to fight Deontay Wilder, and I saw an opportunity there. I made a tweet for this fight, I was calling for that fight.
“Again, this is my second boxing match and I’m fighting one of the best, one of the top three, after fighting another top three. So in two of my fights in boxing I’m going to fight potentially the best in the world…”
Ngannou on saying Joshua wouldn’t have gotten up from the shot he dropped Fury with
“Yeah, I have a doubt about that. Tyson showed that he’s very resilient. I saw him come back from a knockdown that you wouldn’t believe. So I think he’s probably one of the most resistant person out there, and that’s not a disrespect to AJ. I don’t believe that AJ would take what Tyson did.”