Ben Davison has sounded a warning to anybody thinking that Anthony Joshua will enjoy an easy night when he faces Francis Ngannou in Riyadh on Friday.
The two-time world heavyweight king (27-3) faces a man in the shape of former UFC superstar who is having only his second professional boxing bout. His first was a showstopper though as he took lineal heavyweight king Tyson Fury right to the wire last October – also in Saudi Arabia.
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Joshua meanwhile has rebuilt his carer at the top level very nicely since those back-to-back losses to Oleksandr Usyk in 2021 and 2022. Three wins in 2023 saw him right back in the world title picture – and the last of those wins was the most impressive of all.
The December demolition of Swede Otto Wallin was Joshua’s first fight working with former Fury mentor Davison heading up his corner, and it resulted in the perfect night. Joshua was super impressive – producing a crisp and assured performance to blast out Wallin after five rounds.
Ben Davison’s Ngannou warning
Davison though believes that may lead to a false sense of confidence from some pundits and fans. He says though it will not happen within the closed ranks of Team Joshua.
He said: “He’s a pleasure to work with, he’s the ultimate professional and he loves boxing. Obviously that drives us. We’re passionate about boxing and he’s passionate about boxing. It makes for an enjoyable partnership. I just think there’s probably a false sense of confidence taken from the previous fight that he had. I think it’s going to be a completely different situation.
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“We’ve prepared for him respectfully and professionally. Same as everybody, nobody knew what to expect last time. Everybody, being honest, was slightly dismissive. Now we know that’s not the case. Yes, you can say there was a lot of experience to be taken from last time but I still think it’s going to be a whole new experience.”
The Dewey Cooper factor
Davison has spoken before about the respect he has for Ngannou’s trainer Dewey Cooper – and once again he explained why he rates him highly at the final pre-fight press conference this week.
“Dewey is an experienced coach, to think that he’s only got one layer to his game would again be underestimating him and we’ve not done that. We’re prepared for him to have some new layers to his game. We’re going to find out on Friday, but we’re very well prepared.”
