British heavyweight Joe Joyce is predicting a closely fought encounter when Athony Joshua steps in the ring with Francis Ngannou on Friday night.
Ngannou will compete in only his second professional fight when he takes on Joshua, after shocking the world last year in his bout with Tyson Fury, and Joyce thinks it's a tough match to call in Riyadh.
Speaking to OLBG, the former WBO interim champion, believes there could be an upset on the cards, but admits the fight could go either way.
“I'm doubtful they'll meet in the center of the ring, I imagine Joshua will play it safe," he said.
"Joshua can hit hard but if he fights fire with fire and he could get caught in the flames it could be over. He needs to be careful and get his shots off too. Francis can test AJ’s chin. AJ’s shown he hasn't got the best chin, he's shown he's a bit of a glass cannon. He has explosive power but also he’s quite fragile. But how can I talk? I've just been knocked out, so I can't talk.
"But look at what Ngannou did against Fury, he knocked him down and arguably won the fight, and he could do the same to Joshua. He needs to because Ngannou is not going to get the decision.”
“If Francis lands a big bomb on Joshua’s chin, Joshua’s going down. Equally, Joshua's got power and if he can put them punches together and use his experience, probably keep it a lot more long range, I can see why some are making him the favorite.
"If the odds are good for a Francis knockout, I’m putting my money on that. It’s a 50-50 fight. I'll say Joshua on points or Ngannou for the upset by KO.”
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