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Who: Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou
What: Heavyweight Boxing Fight (10 Rounds)
When: Friday, March 8, 2024 at 23:00 GMT
Where: Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Francis Ngannou believes his strong performance in his pro boxing debut against Tyson Fury has given him confidence ahead of his clash against British heavyweight Anthony Joshua in Saudi Arabia.
Former UFC heavyweight champion Ngannou will fight Joshua on Friday at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh.
Ngannou made his debut in October, losing by split decision to WBC world champion Fury in a non-title bout.
The Cameroonian-French fighter almost caused an upset when he dropped Fury to the canvas with a left hook in that fight.
“I feel pretty confident based on my training and hard work,” Ngannou said in his pre-fight press conference on Wednesday.
“It (the fight against Fury) was a good experience and it definitely gave me better guidance for proper training.
“Whatever spot I have open, I am going to attack it… I will leave no stone unturned and ignore no opportunity.”
Much of the pre-fight narrative is assuming that there will be a win for Joshua that will set him up to fight Fury, provided Fury – the WBC champion – is able to fight Oleksandr Usyk – the WBA, IBF and WBO champion – on May 18 in his rearranged fight. Defeat in the competition. Crowned the first undisputed heavyweight champion since 2000.
Ngannou is ready to make more headlines in his fast-track bid to become boxing champion so soon after dominating the UFC landscape.
“I've exposed myself – the guy who comes next time (Joshua) knows what he has to deal with,” Ngannou said after arriving in Riyadh.
“I have lost that element of surprise. So how can I surprise her again? What can I pull out of my sleeve once again?”
Ngannou, who has a 17-3 mixed martial arts record with 12 wins by knockout, will once again be the underdog when he faces two-time world heavyweight champion Joshua, but the Briton said he would make the mistake of underestimating himself. will not do. Experienced opponent.
“He is boxing. His first dream was to become a boxer, which people forget. He was part of the Cameroon team,” Joshua told reporters.
“I know who I'm up against, I pay attention to all these little details. I spar, I study my film, all that kind of stuff.
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Story of a poor becoming rich
Ngannou once toiled in a sand mine, scavenged for food to avoid starvation and slept rough in a car park, so facing former two-time world heavyweight champion Joshua was just one part of his journey to riches. There is another stop.
“I have a lot of experience in life,” the soft-spoken Cameroon-born fighter said with characteristic humility.
“I've made my fighting spirit as high as anyone else's.”
Ngannou has covered a lot in his 37 years.
The child of a single mother, he had to walk six miles to school and from the age of 10 he was shoveling sand from open cast mines, his meager income helping to buy food and books.
“It was a job for adults, but we had no choice,” Ngannou said of his back-breaking labor, which paid less than $2 a day.
“I didn't like my life, I felt like I missed my childhood.”
In 2012, at the age of 26 and driven by the dream of becoming a professional boxer, Ngannou, now boasting a massive physique honed by his brutal work in the sand pits, took leave for Europe and a better life .
Crammed with others into the back of a pick-up truck, he crossed the Sahara, traveling through Nigeria, Niger and Algeria before reaching Morocco.
Then, after half a dozen failed attempts, he finally crossed the Mediterranean Sea to Spain, where he was promptly jailed for two months for making an illegal crossing.
He took a train to Paris and lived in a car park, before local boxing coach Didier Carmont found him a place to stay and a gym to train.
Despite an early attraction to Mike Tyson, Ngannou graduated to mixed martial arts and became the UFC world heavyweight champion in 2021.
Many mocked him when he chose to make his boxing debut against world champion Tyson Fury in the so-called “Battle of the Baddest” last October.
However, the doubters were silenced when Ngannou sent Fury to the canvas in the third round before losing on a controversial split decision.
However, Ngannou's reputation and bank balance increased. He was paid $10 million for his night's work, a windfall that helped the once-shameless Cameroonian buy a luxurious home in Las Vegas.
'I can knock out Joshua'
On Friday, Ngannou will return to Riyadh to face 34-year-old Joshua, whose defeat may very well be a significant blow to his profession.
“Undoubtedly I can knock Joshua out,” Ngannou mentioned. “I consider that if I assault somebody, I’ll knock them out. The query is methods to get down? That is the toughest factor.”
Joshua, a former unified WBO, WBA and IBF heavyweight champion, comes into the struggle with three consecutive wins.
Nevertheless, earlier than that, he misplaced a back-to-back struggle with Oleksandr Usyk, who will struggle Fury for the undisputed heavyweight title in Saudi in Might.
Joshua mentioned of Ngannou, “It's taking place this Friday, so I can't look forward to the chance to indicate my abilities and struggle a man who thinks he can knock me out.”
“I consider I can beat him. Undoubtedly. I might like to put that on the market and make a press release.
“He's obtained to be prepared for the pictures which might be coming his means as a result of I'm a man that's going to face in entrance of him, and provides him a whole lot of bother.”