Francis Ngannou impressed the boxing world during his debut professional bout last year, when the former UFC champion took Tyson Fury the distance in a split decision loss to the current WBC heavyweight titleholder.
Ngannou even managed to knock Fury down, and while he ultimately lost on the judges' scorecards the Cameroonian fighter earned enough respect and credibility from the bout that he is now preparing to take on former unified world champion Anthony Joshua on March 8, live on DAZN.
Joshua represents a different challenge for the mixed martial artist-turned-boxer, as Ngannou no longer possesses the element of surprise that he did against Fury.
"AJ" will have studied Ngannou's maiden boxing match and should be more prepared than Fury was. Add in Joshua's experience level, and Ngannou will once again be considered the underdog.
Former Joshua opponent Jermaine Franklin has better knowledge than most on what it's like to step into the ring with the 34-year-old Briton. Franklin went the distance against Joshua last year in a losing effort, and he has some ideas as to what Ngannou should avoid doing when squares off with AJ in March.
Speaking to Action Network, Franklin used his own experience against Joshua to explain what Ngannou should not do in their fight.
“Francis must realise that he is not going to outbox AJ," Franklin said. "I wanted to work AJ on the inside and counter his power to the body and use my jab to set up my power shots, for the first four to five rounds I was doing that and then I got frustrated.
"AJ is a boxer with power and tons of ring experience. [Ngannou] must use his big body and strength to wear AJ down and fight going forward."
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