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Francis Ngannou shocked the world with his performance against Tyson Fury in his professional boxing debut. He took 'The Gypsy King' the distance and even scored a knockdown in the process.
In fact, many experts in the combat sports community were of the opinion that Ngannou warranted the nod on the judges' scorecards. He will look to build off that momentum in his next outing, which comes on March 8, 2024 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as 'The Predator' is set to face Anthony Joshua.
Francis Ngannou recently spoke to Queensberry Promotions to preview the fight, when he was asked how much better he has become since the Fury bout. He replied:
"How much? I don't know. How much to what? Maybe twenty bucks better...Yeah, of course, definitely, that was my first experience and then, getting into this camp, I already had that experience from the past camp, from the fight. It was something really helpful to know a little bit about what it is. So, getting into this camp, I knew already what I was stepping into, and what it was going to be like."
Check out Francis Ngannou's interview with Queensberry Promotions here (0:54 for his comments):
Francis Ngannou names his preferred opponents, outlines vision for his boxing career
In the same interview, 'The Predator' expressed his respect for Anthony Joshua and outlined his plans for his future in boxing. When asked about 'AJ,' Ngannou said:
"Well, I think he's one of the greats. One of the best fighters out there."
He also went on to add:
"I always said, whenever I get into boxing, there's going to be three names - Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder. So far, the landscape hasn't changed. I think Oleksandr Usyk is adding himself to the list, but basically, those are the pioneers of boxing in this generation."
With Fury and Usyk set to unify the heavyweight titles on May 18, 2024, the winner of the Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou bout may well find themselves in a position to compete for the undisputed championship sometime in the near future.
