Anthony Joshua will have his first outing of 2024 in March when he faces Francis Ngannou in an intriguing heavyweight encounter in Saudi Arabia.
The bout will see Joshua look to make a statement as he intends to target world titles after this contest with the winner of Tyson Fury’s and Oleksandr Usyk’s February clash very much on his radar.
Ngannou comes into the contest 0-1 in the boxing world after he was controversially beaten by Tyson Fury last October.
Despite the loss, Ngannou’s stock went through the roof as he dropped Fury before losing a narrow split decision.
Now up against Joshua, Ngannou has an opportunity to cause a huge upset and Paulie Malignaggi has had his say on the upcoming clash.
“He [Ngannou] is sort of a one-trick pony, he is not a boxer, he’s done very well but he is not a boxer,” said Malignaggi when speaking to ProBox TV.
“When you back up a puncher, even a boxer who is a puncher, typically they end up running out of bullets because they are reliant on their heavy punching power.
“If Joshua starts to back up Ngannou with a solid jab, throwing him off rhythm with that stuff that he does when he is sharp, intimidates him with him his own power because Joshua does have good power, he is going to make Ngannou inept and dominate that fight.”
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