Diverse Domain

The heavyweight division was dealt a heavy blow over the weekend, as Tyson Fury announced his retirement from the ‘Ring of Fire’ undisputed bout set for February 17th, due to a cut on his eye sustained during sparring.

As the eagerly anticipated fight is now called off, with Usyk looking set to fight Hrgovic instead, the next big fight in the heavyweight division is without a doubt Anthony Joshua vs Francis Ngannou.

After Joshua’s demolition of Otto Wallin, it seems he may be back to his fighting best. The pairing with Ben Davison as his trainer paid off, as a determined Joshua oozed confidence in the ring, not giving Wallin the chance to land anything of significance in the fight.

The performance Joshua gave against Wallin, and his confidence in himself in the build up, was an extremely encouraging thing to see for Joshua’s career.

However, the performance of Francis Ngannou against Tyson Fury was a greater feat.

Ngannou, making his professional boxing debut, embarrassed Fury, who did not look like the heavyweight champion of the world that he is meant to be. Fury outboxed him, sure, but he was not dominant in the bout by a long way. Ngannou gave Fury the seventh knockdown of his career, in a 3rd round where Ngannou looked like the seasoned boxer. Fury was unable to dominate and move Ngannou around the ring, Ngannou’s strength shown to be far superior to Fury.

Ngannou showed the world why he deserves to fight in the boxing heavyweight division, and there’s no doubt he deserves this fight with Joshua. If he builds on the boxing ability that he showcased against Fury, he will be a tough opponent for Joshua.

It is very likely that Joshua will therefore take this fight very seriously, as opposed to Fury, who seemed sluggish and unprepared for his 10 round event with Ngannou. If Joshua shows a dominant victory over Ngannou, it will further discredit Fury’s recent victories and status as heavyweight champion of the world. However, Ngannou will likely prepare as equally serious for this fight. Defeating Anthony Joshua will be an amazing achievement on his boxing record, and with the punch Ngannou packs, it is certainly a possibility.

Overall, I believe AJ will outbox Ngannou and showcase why he was the world heavyweight champion for so many years, and why he deserves a chance to regain those titles again. But I would not see this as set in stone. Ngannou is an incredible fighter, and if his punch is as powerful as his MMA career suggests, he definitely has a good chance.