News Joshua vs Ngannou Official March 8th Saudi Arabia

[spinup]

The scariest thing about this clip, besides the sound, is it doesn't look like he's putting much power behind the punch.

Maybe a 7 on a scale of 10.

His reaction to the 999 score is 'Is Normal.'

And yes, I get those punching machines aren't officially regulated & measured. Still impressive nonetheless.

It's a gymshark promo video for an event, and there is some subtle added visual effects, maybe sounds effect too. Since apparently, gymshark gives 10 000$ to anyone who can match it, I suspect the score is not real either.

 

[GearSolidMetal]

It's a gymshark promo video for an event, and there is some subtle added visual effects, maybe sounds effect too. Since apparently, gymshark gives 10 000$ to anyone who can match it, I suspect the score is not real either.

Certainly possible.

Let's assume for a second that Ngannou is the hardest hitting man to ever live. I don't think he is, but for the sake of argument, let's pretend that's the case. He's unlikely to get his hardest shot off in an actual fight against a skilled boxer. An intelligent boxer will keep him off balance. Turn him. Prevent him from setting his feet to punch. When they're not doing this they'd be making him miss and countering effectively so that he's uncomfortable throwing punches in the first place.

Joshua should be able to do a lot of this. Usyk would be even more capable. Fury fought the wrong fight. I don't think Joshua will make the same mistake. Now we know what Ngannou is about. We didn't then.

And Ngannou knows Joshua has the tape from the Fury fight and can analyze his style & technique.

But there's WAY more tape on Joshua.

Ngannou just has to make a few adjustments to not be 'figured out.' Meanwhile Joshua has consistent instinctual tendencies throughout dozens of fights.

Every high-level boxer never goes into a high-level fight without a detailed strategy, and Ngannou proved he's high-level. The only question is if Ngannou has learned his lesson about expecting the judges to give him the W if it goes to a decision.

In other words, he should be strategizing about going for the kill.

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

Certainly possible.



And Ngannou knows Joshua has the tape from the Fury fight and can analyze his style & technique.

But there's WAY more tape on Joshua.

Ngannou just has to make a few adjustments to not be 'figured out.' Meanwhile Joshua has consistent instinctual tendencies throughout dozens of fights.

Every high-level boxer never goes into a high-level fight without a detailed strategy, and Ngannou proved he's high-level. The only question is if Ngannou has learned his lesson about expecting the judges to give him the W if it goes to a decision.

In other words, he should be strategizing about going for the kill.

There's much more tape on Joshua but he's gun shy in some fights and opens up in others. You never really know which version you're going to get. The gun shy version will just look to box mostly. The other version is more aggressive and actually takes risk.

Ngannou's underlying habits & tendencies will remain regardless of how much he consciously tries to switch things up. It's the same with Joshua. A good analyst will pinpoint these and Joshua has one of the brightest in his corner, Lee Wylie. He joined forces with Ben Davison a couple years ago. I think Fury made Ngannou look much better than he actually is. He didn't take him seriously and brought a poor strategy to the table.

 

[GearSolidMetal]

There's much more tape on Joshua but he's gun shy in some fights and opens up in others. You never really know which version you're going to get. The gun shy version will just look to box mostly. The other version is more aggressive and actually takes risk.

Same could be said about Ngannou in MMA.

I bet his blitz is just as terrifying in the boxing ring than the MMA cage.

Ngannou's underlying habits & tendencies will remain regardless of how much he consciously tries to switch things up. It's the same with Joshua. A good analyst will pinpoint these and Joshua has one of the brightest in his corner, Lee Wylie. He joined forces with Ben Davison a couple years ago. I think Fury made Ngannou look much better than he actually is. He didn't take him seriously and brought a poor strategy to the table.

We shall see if Ngannou is 1-dimensional and 'figured out' after only one fight, doing the exact same strategy as he did against Fury... or he'll display multiple dimensions and depth to his game.

Can Ngannou defend against Joshua being aggressive?
Can Joshua defend against Ngannou being aggressive?

Will it be a borefest with both fighters being gun-shy and only throwing a few shots per round?
The boxing equivalent of Black Beast VS Ngannou?

Or will the each go for the kill in the 1st round? (Most unlikely)

We shall see.

One things for sure... Everyone has far far more faith in Ngannou's capabilities than before the Fury fight... which he lost but he gained everyone's respect.

Most hyped 0-1 boxer ever. (No that's not sarcasm)

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

Same could be said about Ngannou in MMA.

I bet his blitz is just as terrifying in the boxing ring than the MMA cage.




We shall see if Ngannou is 1-dimensional and 'figured out' after only one fight, doing the exact same strategy as he did against Fury... or he'll display multiple dimensions and depth to his game.

Can Ngannou defend against Joshua being aggressive?
Can Joshua defend against Ngannou being aggressive?

Will it be a borefest with both fighters being gun-shy and only throwing a few shots per round?
The boxing equivalent of Black Beast VS Ngannou?

Or will the each go for the kill in the 1st round? (Most unlikely)

We shall see.

One things for sure... Everyone has far far more faith in Ngannou's capabilities than before the Fury fight... which he lost but he gained everyone's respect.

Most hyped 0-1 boxer ever. (No that's not sarcasm)

Ngannou is certainly a lot better than we thought. At least a lot better than boxing fans predicted he'd be. But, I can tell you that the version of Fury that fought Ngannou loses handily to Joshua & Usyk. Joshua would've knocked him out on that night and Usyk would've absolutely schooled him.

There's an old saying, "People are creatures of habit" and that definitely applies to fighters. Even if Joshua or Ngannou bring something new that we've never seen before they'll have habits that they're not even conscious of which can be exploited. And if that new thing they brought to the table doesn't work they'll immediately revert back to their typical tactics. That's what will happen. They'll go back to what they know. I predict that one of them is about to get a harsh reality check.

 

[GearSolidMetal]

Ngannou is certainly a lot better than we thought. At least a lot better than boxing fans predicted he'd be. But, I can tell you that the version of Fury that fought Ngannou loses handily to Joshua & Usyk. Joshua would've knocked him out on that night and Usyk would've absolutely schooled him.

*Sigh* Yeah, I get all of that.
That's why I said..."We shall see if Ngannou is 1-dimensional and 'figured out' after only one fight, doing the exact same strategy as he did against Fury... or he'll display multiple dimensions and depth to his game."

Ngannou had an excellent gameplan to out-point Fury, and by many scorecards he did, just not on 2 of the 3 judges scorecards.

We underestimated Ngannou before, lets not jump to underestimate him again.

There's an old saying, "People are creatures of habit" and that definitely applies to fighters. Even if Joshua or Ngannou bring something new that we've never seen before they'll have habits that they're not even conscious of which can be exploited.

Ngannou is far more likely to 'bring something new' that we've never seen him do before... at least in boxing.

People forget he had a masterful strategy to pick apart Stipe in their rematch, as evidence he learned from their 1st fight.

No one expected him to shoot a TD on Gane and wrestle him for a round or two.

So, Ngannou has learned to not be predicatable and pull out a few things no one knew he could do. Lets not conclude he's going to suddenly get lazy creatively.

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

*Sigh* Yeah, I get all of that.
That's why I said..."We shall see if Ngannou is 1-dimensional and 'figured out' after only one fight, doing the exact same strategy as he did against Fury... or he'll display multiple dimensions and depth to his game."

Ngannou had an excellent gameplan to out-point Fury, and by many scorecards he did, just not on 2 of the 3 judges scorecards.

We underestimated Ngannou before, lets not jump to underestimate him again.

Ngannou is far more likely to 'bring something new' that we've never seen him do before... at least in boxing.

People forget he had a masterful strategy to pick apart Stipe in their rematch, as evidence he learned from their 1st fight.

No one expected him to shoot a TD on Gane and wrestle him for a round or two.

So, Ngannou has learned to not be predicatable and pull out a few things no one knew he could do. Lets not conclude he's going to suddenly get lazy creatively.

We'll see how versatile and dynamic Ngannou is. I don't think he has the tools in his boxing toolbag to do much more than we saw last time out. His size and gas tank will also limit his versatility. We won't see him on his toes boxing for all 10 rounds but Joshua is capable of doing it (even for 12 rounds).

Ngannou did look great in the Stipe rematch but that was a rematch. It isn't applicable here. He's never been in with Joshua. What he did against Stipe the second time around does prove that he's able to adjust between fights but not during a fight/on-the-fly. The latter is what he'll almost certainly have to do against Joshua.

We already know that Joshua can make key adjustments both between fights (Ruiz 1 & 2) and mid-fight (Usyk 1 & 2). He made some clever adjustments particularly in the middle rounds of the first Usyk fight. He won those rounds and actually hurt Usyk after making them.

 

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I think Fury made Ngannou look much better than he actually is. He didn't take him seriously and brought a poor strategy to the table.

Maybe Ngannou made Fury look worse than he is.
He is very long, defensively sound, kinda fast and never lets you build offense without retaliation.
In MMA, all his opponent struggled a lot on how to approach striking against him.
The 2 successful one were Stipe, but Ngannou was absolutely gassed against him, and Gane who is extremely elusive and used his fasts kicks and jab.

Compared to Helenious for who was very passive when Joshua attacked, Ngannou will be way harder to deal with, as long as he conserves enouh stamina.

What he did against Stipe the second time around does prove that he's able to adjust between fights but not during a fight/on-the-fly. The latter is what he'll almost certainly have to do against Joshua.

Well it's MMA but his fight against Gane was one of the best in fight adjustement we've seen, and ability to make adaptation to overcome a massive handicap.

I agree with you that Joshua probably has better cardio than Ngannou (need to see how it holds after rough clinching phases).
He is also more hittable and predictable than Fury.
Best way to win for AJ is to get him fatigued before going for power shots and combos.

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

Maybe Ngannou made Fury look worse than he is.
He is very long, defensively sound, kinda fast and never lets you build offense without retaliation.
In MMA, all his opponent struggled a lot on how to approach striking against him.
The 2 successful one were Stipe, but Ngannou was absolutely gassed against him, and Gane who is extremely elusive and used his fasts kicks and jab.

Compared to Helenious for who was very passive when Joshua attacked, Ngannou will be way harder to deal with, as long as he conserves enouh stamina.


Well it's MMA but his fight against Gane was one of the best in fight adjustement we've seen, and ability to make adaptation to overcome a massive handicap.

I agree with you that Joshua probably has better cardio than Ngannou (need to see how it holds after rough clinching phases).
He is also more hittable and predictable than Fury.
Best way to win for AJ is to get him fatigued before going for power shots and combos.

Ngannou's awkwardness probably made Fury look worse than usual, to his credit, but a lot of how bad Fury looked was directly on him. I could tell based on the shape that he was in, how serious it appeared that he took Ngannou, how dull he looked, and how labored his movement was.

Fury has made guys look better than they really are before. Wallin is a fine example of this. Did you see what Joshua did to the improved version of Wallin? He made him look like he'd never boxed a day in his life. I'll give another example in Wilder. Parker didn't lose a single round to him and yet Fury struggled in 2 of the 3 fights.

 

[offshore33]

 

[Deaths Head]

Serious question for Ngannou fans. IF he does lose this fight, will it be his last boxing match? Or would it matter how he loses?
(Obviously if Francis wins he will continue to box.)

I don’t think you need to be an MMA fan bc a full combat fan understands what’s going on ….Ngannou losing to Joshua still won’t really tell us how good he is unless it’s actually competitive or is intense in a short fight ? He’ll get paid more in boxing either way ,looking outside the top 5 you can still say he’s better then Wilder right now , a big unit decent fundamentals,very powerful and durable at 270 plus ………is he done in boxing ?

Not unless everyone is Joshua who they think bc everyone thinks they can just take his losses all the time and just put it on their own resume, Wilder himself did it all the time even with Ruiz but learned the hard way with Parker . Lol

 

[MMALOPEZ]

 

[MMALOPEZ]

 

[BoxerMaurits]

Some changes to the fightcard:

 

[Jonny Ninja]

Louis greene vs Jack mcgann should be a good fight

 

[SideKickPro24]

Whatever you could believe whatever you want to believe. But the point is it's a controversial decision, a bunch of people thought Ngannou won in a close fight, if you can't take it for what it is. Than that's too bad.

The fight was not a clear lost. When it's a split decision by the judges. And the judges who scored it Fury had the scores also in a close fight. It's definitely not a clear lost for Ngannou. Yes he lost the fight based on the judge scoring, but it's still doesn't take the fact it was a close fight. That could've went either way.

I’m more of an MMA fan than boxing. But I do watch both sports. I’ve watched the fight 3 times and thought fury every time. Ngannou performed well, and I was definitely pulling for him. He showed me with how well he did. But if your judging correctly fury won the match.

I will say though that’s round by round scoring. If I had to say who one the fight (actual physical altercation) I would say ngannou got the better of fury. But a sport is a sport, rules are rules, and the fight is scored round by round… so fury takes it.

 

[Deaths Head]

Yeah should be a great fight, as a Parker fan I was hoping he'd wait for the winner of the main event, but I'm sure he's getting paid well anyway and hopefully he wins and fights the winner anyway.

Good to see Justis Huni get on the card as well. If you haven't seen him fight he's very skilled (strong amateur pedigree) but he doesn't seem to have much power unfortunately, might be hard for him to become a draw.

If Parker did that he’d have a long wait bc there might be a rematch and the winner is scheduled to face the winner of Joshua and Ngannou anyway , Parker would be inactive until 2026 which is probable around the WBO mandatory time slot . Lol

 

[djacobox372]

As this fight gets closer I'm starting to fool myself into thinking Francis has a chance. AJ is great offensively, but he fights so upright with his chin in the air.

 

[spinup]

I’m more of an MMA fan than boxing. But I do watch both sports. I’ve watched the fight 3 times and thought fury every time. Ngannou performed well, and I was definitely pulling for him. He showed me with how well he did. But if your judging correctly fury won the match.

I will say though that’s round by round scoring. If I had to say who one the fight (actual physical altercation) I would say ngannou got the better of fury. But a sport is a sport, rules are rules, and the fight is scored round by round… so fury takes it.

There is a really a case for scoring it either way, some rounds were extremely close. I gave Ngannou 2,3,4,7,8 and while you can argue Fury won 2 and 4, anyone who says they are clear rounds for Fury has not watched it properly.

Also, Ngannou was blatantly robbed of a penalty point with that elbow in round 6, which would have (and should have) ended in a draw on the judges scorecards.

 

[MMALOPEZ]