Francis Ngannou says he and Anthony Joshua have different goals ahead of their massive March 8 showdown – he wants tear-ups and not titles.
The huge heavyweight clash in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia will pit a man seeking heavyweight title glory for a third time against a man having only his second professional bout as a boxer.
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The gulf, in theory, could not be greater. But the end result for both is the same – win and they are in position to meet either Tyson Fury or Oleksandr Usyk for all of the marbles. The chance to become undisputed heavyweight champion.
Despite that, former UFC heavyweight king Ngannou – who produced a stunning performance on debut to take Fury right to the brink in their October 2023 crossover match – is not thinking about baubles and belts. He just wants to fight.
Ngannou on Joshua showdown
Speaking during a face-off with Joshua, aired by streaming platform DAZN, he said: “I’m not viewing myself as I depend on the win, I depend on the fight. What’s going to happen? Yes of course I want to win, but I can win without really fighting, it’s not the kind of win I’m looking for.
“I really want to fight, and when you fight, even when you lose people want to see you back. That’s how the sport is because obviously when two people go to fight, one person is gonna come out as a winner. One person will win and one will lose.
“But they need a loser to make a winner – it takes two to tango.”
What’s at stake in Joshua vs Ngannou?
Like we said, there are no title belts at stake on fight night, but this is the stepping stone to something enormous.
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Turki Alalshikh – the man making all these superfights happen in Saudi Arabia – has a vision. He wants the AJ vs Ngannou winner to face the winner of that rearranged Fury vs Usyk showdown. For the undisputed heavyweight title.
The stakes could not be higher. Bring it on…
