Ngannou for the upset.

[Frostieballs]

Nah!

Anyone backing Ngannou want £50 with me?

It might not be £50 but I'll be sticking a few quid on at the bookies for a bit of fun.

Have the bet with me instead :-)

[Grilling Machine]

For all this talk of power and chins and psychology, aren't we overlooking the actual boxing?!

If I were coaching AJ I'd tell him to forget about winning the first 2 and just concentrate on settling in. If he can land a few decent shots without anything hurtful in return, his confidence'll soar and he should be away.

Likewise if I were coaching Ngannou I'd recommend he jump straight in with big shots. Never mind if they all miss, so long as he scares AJ enough to prolong the nervousness he'll start with.

I won't be betting on this one, but I'd go Ngannou 1-3 and AJ 3-6. If it goes the distance I think it's AJ wide, electing for points beyond the middle rounds unless Ngannou's gasping.

[polecateddy]

I’m sure Ngannou must be a mirage created by Fury’s punching power decreasing from medium strength to low with his general deterioration. Joshua is the real puncher in this fight and must have forgotten more than Ngannou will ever know in terms of boxing skills. Joshua should win by total domination and multiple knockdowns well within the first half.

[forcefraser]

AJ gonna beat the bejaysus out of Francis.

Anything less is a disgrace. Olympic Gold Medalist (gifted) and a two time unfied heavyweight champion against a boxing novice.

Aj should and will mince this guy's kipper off

[Cyclops]

Nah!

Anyone backing Ngannou want £50 with me?

It might not be £50 but I'll be sticking a few quid on at the bookies for a bit of fun.

Have the bet with me instead :-)

What odds are you going to give me for Ngannou late?

[Oiky]

Joshua has to go to work and go to work quick, if he feels ngannnou strength up close I feel he will start concerning himself with getting a shot from him, and go into his shell

I fancy aj for a win, but no way counting ngannou out, he's big strong and super fit against a man who ultimately is his own worst enemy in there, aj has the tools to beat ngannou, he just needs to be aware of that and not get overwhelmed.

[Nightmare Roy]

I wouldnt be shocked if Ngannou cleans AJ'S clock, but I think AJ gets on his bike and Nicks a pts decision. He might try for the stoppage early on but he will quickly realise how strong and powerful Ngannou is, the man is an immovable object.

[forcefraser]

I wouldnt be shocked if Ngannou cleans AJ'S clock, but I think AJ gets on his bike and Nicks a pts decision. He might try for the stoppage early on but he will quickly realise how strong and powerful Ngannou is, the man is an immovable object.

Have we seen him caught clean?

Fury didn't hit him with any power. AJ has more than enough power to render him sparko. AJ carries Powah.

[Twinkle Toes]

Expecting a good win from Joshua, and would be surprised with anything less.

Ngannou lacks the engine to go anything near a hard ten rounds, this is what allowed a horrendous looking Fury back in their fight. He's slow too, very slow.

I think he's made for Joshua. When he's on the end of a proper hard jab and power punches we'll see the difference in levels.

[Nightmare Roy]

I wouldnt be shocked if Ngannou cleans AJ'S clock, but I think AJ gets on his bike and Nicks a pts decision. He might try for the stoppage early on but he will quickly realise how strong and powerful Ngannou is, the man is an immovable object.

Have we seen him caught clean?

Fury didn't hit him with any power. AJ has more than enough power to render him sparko. AJ carries Powah.

I've seen him booted in the chin, didnt blink, he's a seriously hard geezer

[jtourettes]

I wouldnt be shocked if Ngannou cleans AJ'S clock, but I think AJ gets on his bike and Nicks a pts decision. He might try for the stoppage early on but he will quickly realise how strong and powerful Ngannou is, the man is an immovable object.

Have we seen him caught clean?

Fury didn't hit him with any power. AJ has more than enough power to render him sparko. AJ carries Powah.

That elbow fury caught him with looked pretty hard tbf

[Kilburn]

I do feel like AJ should be able to navigate his way to a win whatever happens, but how good he will look doing it is anyone’s guess.

People can bleat on about gold medals, skill and power all day long, but it’s hard to overlook that Joshua failed to gain Jermaine Franklin’s respect for a single second in their fight, while largely instigating a tedious clinch fest.

I suspect Ngannou will respond with ferocity to any clean shot he gets caught with, certainly in the early rounds. Maybe AJ will cope just fine with that.

He’ll need to.

[Grilling Machine]

it’s hard to overlook that Joshua failed to gain Jermaine Franklin’s respect for a single second in their fight

Takam and Povetkin also gave him work, and he lost to the smaller Usyk and shorter Ruiz.

But it's a trend that so far doesn't extend to his fellow big men, stopping Wlad and Wallin when Fury couldn't. Yeah he might get sparked this time and derail that form, but I think there's a greater chance he'll look his best.

[coneye]

AJ should show that he's ( Nganou ) a novice and win easy , i would expect AJ to get behind the jab , outbox him allnight and set up a stoppage , in the later rnds .

[polecateddy]

It’s quite possible the sight of Joshua walking through Ngannou will blow Fury’s confidence in his ability to compete with Usyk even more. If Joshua puts Ngannou down it’s impressive too, because looking at the UFC he’s barely ever been even slightly stunned. He could just have an Oliver McCall type chin!

[Frostieballs]

It might not be £50 but I'll be sticking a few quid on at the bookies for a bit of fun.

Have the bet with me instead :-)

What odds are you going to give me for Ngannou late?

I’ll give you 30/1 on rounds 8, 9 or 10.

[Cyclops]

Have the bet with me instead :-)

What odds are you going to give me for Ngannou late?

I’ll give you 30/1 on rounds 8, 9 or 10.

EDIT: just realised I’m potentially doxxing myself here! Thanks for the offer but the bet will be at the bookies

[KiwiRider]

Expecting a good win from Joshua, and would be surprised with anything less.

Ngannou lacks the engine to go anything near a hard ten rounds, this is what allowed a horrendous looking Fury back in their fight. He's slow too, very slow.

I think he's made for Joshua. When he's on the end of a proper hard jab and power punches we'll see the difference in levels.

Do you not think he would have made the cardio adjustment to go ten after never going ten?
For a guy who had never had a professional boxing match, he did pretty well and has the team, and the smarts to make simple adjustments like that.

[SeanBrennan]

Expecting a good win from Joshua, and would be surprised with anything less.

Ngannou lacks the engine to go anything near a hard ten rounds, this is what allowed a horrendous looking Fury back in their fight. He's slow too, very slow.

I think he's made for Joshua. When he's on the end of a proper hard jab and power punches we'll see the difference in levels.

Do you not think he would have made the cardio adjustment to go ten after never going ten?
For a guy who had never had a professional boxing match, he did pretty well and has the team, and the smarts to make simple adjustments like that.

I agree, I do not think stamina is going to the key to victory here, he's probably the best conditioned person in the delivery.

[stujones]

I don’t think this fight will have any bearing on Usyk vs Fury at all. Forget about conditioning etc just wtf was Fury’s game plan vs Ngannou? He had none, he didn’t really try to take it to him. Cannot really remeber him trying to KO him. No urgency at all. He also did not seemed surprised he got the decision in a fight I would say more thought he lost than won.

Where was the Wilder type response to being floored? Whether he was just completely flummoxed or was carrying Ngannou (as he knew he was getting the W) I’m not sure, but there was no game plan at all and I don’t feel the fact he had another birthday impacted that.

Fury will have a game plan for Usyk for sure. If Joshua smashes Ngannou in a round or gets trounced won’t impact how shite Fury was and how unseriously he fought.

[tonyevs]

It’s quite possible the sight of Joshua walking through Ngannou will blow Fury’s confidence in his ability to compete with Usyk even more. If Joshua puts Ngannou down it’s impressive too, because looking at the UFC he’s barely ever been even slightly stunned. He could just have an Oliver McCall type chin!

McCall had boxing experience and smarts when absorbing punches. He knew the game well enough to take some of the sting out of the punches .. of course he had a serious chin too.
Ngannou is coming from a different sport where they don`t get targeted and have to absorb so many punches to the head, so he most definitely won`t be used to it.
Heavyweights of course are a different breed, and one punch can turn it around for any guy weighing 18st plus and able to punch ... but here its about who can set that big punch up first; and that heavily favours the experienced boxer.

As recently discussed, Pele Reid was a solid unit and big puncher; after all he KO`d Vitali Klitchko in kickboxing ... but in the pro boxing ring was found out fairly quickly when stepping up with decent guys. AJ is one of the top 3 in the division.

[polecateddy]

It’s quite possible the sight of Joshua walking through Ngannou will blow Fury’s confidence in his ability to compete with Usyk even more. If Joshua puts Ngannou down it’s impressive too, because looking at the UFC he’s barely ever been even slightly stunned. He could just have an Oliver McCall type chin!

McCall had boxing experience and smarts when absorbing punches. He knew the game well enough to take some of the sting out of the punches .. of course he had a serious chin too.
Ngannou is coming from a different sport where they don`t get targeted and have to absorb so many punches to the head, so he most definitely won`t be used to it.
Heavyweights of course are a different breed, and one punch can turn it around for any guy weighing 18st plus and able to punch ... but here its about who can set that big punch up first; and that heavily favours the experienced boxer.

As recently discussed, Pele Reid was a solid unit and big puncher; after all he KO`d Vitali Klitchko in kickboxing ... but in the pro boxing ring was found out fairly quickly when stepping up with decent guys. AJ is one of the top 3 in the division.

I remember all the Pele Reid hype. I think Julius Francis was a sizeable underdog when he took him to school. I guess in retrospect Reid’s best fight was the losing effort against Michael Sprott, which could have gone either way.

[MightyWarrior]

It would be a disaster for the sport if Ngannou beat Joshua. To have a complete novice come along from MMA and beat not one but two of the best heavyweights around would be a huge embarrassment. He might not have got the decision against fury, but it felt like a win, with fury having every single advantage and only just about stumbling over the line.
Joshua has to bomb out this pretender in short order, because a loss is just unthinkable and can’t happen.

[stujones]

It would be a disaster for the sport if Ngannou beat Joshua. To have a complete novice come along from MMA and beat not one but two of the best heavyweights around would be a huge embarrassment. He might not have got the decision against fury, but it felt like a win, with fury having every single advantage and only just about stumbling over the line.
Joshua has to bomb out this pretender in short order, because a los is just unthinkable and can’t happen.

Yes, if Joshua loses to Ngannou - where it would be "bad" for Fury is that it will put a huge question mark over all in "his generation" really. Fury's best wins have some links now to Joshua - Wilder, lost to Parker, lost to Joshua; White, lost to Joshua, Wallin lost to Joshua; If Joshua cannot beat a one fight novice - then you might as well kiss goodbye any claims that this era is any good and I will be praying for a mass exodous from the Cruiserweight to the Heavyweights.

[Kilburn]

Yes a defeat for Joshua would be very damaging for the division. We were already looking at the strong possibility of Usyk v Joshua 3 being the only really big fight down the line, assuming Usyk takes Fury to school.