Anthony Joshua believes he can knock Francis Ngannou out when they meet on Friday, March 8.
The two heavyweights fight live on DAZN PPV this weekend in Saudi Arabia, as they look to move to the front of the queue to fight the winner of Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk - also shown live on DAZN PPV , on May 18.
Joshua’s last fight was a stoppage victory over Otto Wallin in December, and two months before then, Ngannou made his boxing debut against Fury, losing by split decision.
Anticipation is growing to see if Ngannou can finally get a win, or if Joshua can continue his improvement after his back-to-back defeats to Usyk in 2021 and then 2022.
Speaking to Sky Sports , Joshua believes he can stop Ngannou too.
"I believe I can knock him out," he said. "Definitely. I would love to knock him out and make a statement.
"Physically I feel strong, feeling good. Strong enough to get the job done and mentally I'm in a place where I'm ready for war. I'm looking forward to the challenge.
"Mentally I don't worry so much about my opponent and look at what my opponent can bring to me and think, 'how can I overcome these challenges they present?' I work really hard to up my game and look forward to showing everything I've worked on."
Live on DAZN: Check your region for the Saudi Pro League. Click here for details.