Before their ten-round match on Match 8, Anthony Joshua has threatened Francis Ngannou, saying he “breaks eye sockets” and has “ruined careers.”

After a strong but unsatisfactory performance against Tyson Fury in the last fight, the former UFC Champion has earned a shot against Joshua. He thinks the fight would end if he lands clean against Joshua.

“AJ” is reportedly treating the battle as seriously as he would any previous bout, even though he is aware of the dangers involved with a puncher like Ngannou. He does, however, fully support himself.

He emphasized to his supporters not to undervalue his power in an interview with Boxing News.

However, I believe that people undervalue me and assume that since I’m not that strong psychologically, they can just come and put pressure on me. Even with all of the excitement surrounding Ngannou, he still needs to pass through me. He is staring at a combative individual.

“Power punching is what I do myself. I break eyes out of people. I gave Helenius a spark out, I fractured Wallin’s nose and eye socket, and I f***ing ruined Dillian Whyte’s career with an uppercut. The list is endless.

“It will be an excellent fight because he has to deal with me.”

After a heated build-up, Joshua and Whyte squared up for the British Heavyweight title back in 2015. The Olympic Gold Medalist was swiftly lured into a brawl.

In the opening frame, “AJ” stunned Whyte with a left hook. He fired a shot after the bell, causing chaos and motivating Whyte to retaliate. Referee Howard Foster brought the two men’s teams under control once they entered the ring.

“The Bodysnatcher” attempted to change the tide in the second and had Joshua wobbling, but the future two-time world champion regained control and punished Whyte with strong blows in the seventh before, as previously said, sending him flat on his back with the fatal uppercut.

After that, Whyte amassed a run of eleven victories before Alexander Povetkin unseated him once more with a cunning left uppercut that had disastrous results. Two years later, Tyson Fury would halt him once more with an identical shot.

Prior to Whyte’s doping test failure last year, the British rivalry was about to heat up again. Since then, he has avoided the ring.

The only remaining heavyweight champion in the world, Lennox Lewis, and Anthony Joshua have never had a particularly cordial relationship. According to Lewis, “AJ” only has two opponents that are worthy of fighting after “gimme” contests.

When Joshua last faced Otto Wallin on the Day of Reckoning card in Saudi Arabia, Lewis was spectating from a TV studio. A clear-cut stoppage victory that came after Wallin stayed on his stool after the fifth round was widely regarded as his strongest performance in a long time. It came after two other wins in 2023 against Jermaine Franklin and Robert Helenius.

Speaking to The Ring, Magazine Lewis stated that Joshua ought to reserve his big-fight opportunities for after he has fully recovered from his consecutive defeats to the legendary Oleksandr Usyk.

“I look at Joshua and I’m like, ‘OK, he’s had a couple gimme fights, he doesn’t need any more gimme fights.’ He wants to test his skill, give him something. You cannot give scraps to a dog. This guy wants to go out there and prove himself. Allow him to (do it), don’t baby him.”

Following that, Lewis asserted that Joshua should only compete against Zhilei Zhang and Tyson Fury. The Britishman has already lost both of his encounters with Oleksandr Usyk.

“The issue today is that he will be facing up-and-coming fighters, but Fury and Zhang will now be his primary rivals for greater legitimacy. I didn’t want to be boxing the people who were coming up while I was there. I was looking for someone with whom I could truly connect and who could help me advance. As of right now, all Joshua is doing is waiting for an opportunity. They’re telling me he needs to stay occupied, but I think this kid should have been competing for titles a long time ago.

Though boxing fans will be expecting for a more difficult test against the winner of Fury and Usyk’s undisputed fight in February, the truth is that his next fight is against a 1 and 0 novice in Francis Ngannou.

Is Anthony Joshua making the correct decision by taking on Francis Ngannou? Throughout his fight with Tyson Fury, Ngannou showed that he was a formidable opponent. As a result, Joshua faces greater risk because Ngannou is a strong opponent. However, some in the boxing community believe that this fight is just a money grab. Not to mention, even if “AJ” defeats the UFC’s previous heavyweight champion, he could not receive any recognition.

Nonetheless, considering the circumstances, former professional boxer David Coldwell believes it’s a pretty good match-up. His remarks are insightful since he offers a comprehensive perspective. So let’s jump straight into his remarks without any more delay.

According to David Coldwell, there should be no complaints about the matchup. Why? Because Tyson Fury was dropped and appeared vulnerable by Ngannou in their most recent fight. There’s a story in the boxing community that says Fury is more skilled and has a stronger chin than AJ. Therefore, Ngannou would find it easier to deal with a diminished version if he could neutralize those traits. In an interview with Boxing Social, he reflected on the matter and said, “Out of the two, fury got better chin.” Ngannou dropped Fury, correct, so we claim that Fury has got better boxing skills and he is a much bigger, more elite boxer than AJ. Did Fury appear at ease and to be effortlessly outboxing the inexperienced Ngannou during that fight? No, it didn’t.

But Joshua is prepared to try it, even if he could have gone for the championship, which Coldwell thinks is admirable.”We give Tyson Fury a better ranking than AJ. Therefore, Anthony Joshua is pretty much set to pursue that path given that he knows he has an opportunity to defend the world title with the IBF. I think it’s acceptable to then actually be willing to go against a guy who has demonstrated the two traits—the man who is supposed to be better at those two things—and to severely damage Fury’s two attributes, Coldwell said.

Furthermore, he says that this is a real battle that might serve as a tune-up for the former champion. “It’s a good non-title, tune-up, warm-up,” he continued. The former professional did offer some reasoned remarks and gives Joshua and Ngannou their due credit. Ngannou, however, is aware of a change in public attitudes about him as a boxer, particularly in the wake of his fight with Fury.

For an extended period, Ngannou was ridiculed. But following his bout with Fury, a number of well-known figures, including David Coldwell, gave him credit. The mixed martial arts fighter acknowledges this and does not hold back while acknowledging it. “You know, you can tell that they are giving me—showing me some respect, like okay—’don’t count this guy out,'” he said in an interview with Ariel Helwani.

This rewriting of the story would give Ngannou more self-assurance before his battle with AJ. Furthermore, tensions and rumors will undoubtedly make their way into the media as the battle draws nearer.

Robert Garcia, the former trainer of Anthony Joshua, has speculated that “AJ” and Oleksandr Usyk, the current unified heavyweight champion, may face each other three times.

Joshua’s second tenure as champion came to an end in 2021 after just one title defense against Usyk, who also took back the WBA, WBO, and IBF crowns. The British fighter used his rematch clause to force Garcia to replace longtime trainer Rob McCracken in an effort to regain the belts.

Regretfully, Joshua lost a split decision in Saudi Arabia and was unable to reclaim the heavyweight title, even if his performance had improved.

Joshua is in a good position with the IBF and may fight called as a mandatory challenger later in the year against Filip Hrgovic, so he may get another chance to exact revenge for those losses.

Garcia asserted in an interview with Boxing Social that Joshua can overcome his opponent following his strong showing against Otto Wallin the previous time around.

He is the second most gifted fighter in the [heavyweight] class; he has enormous potential and is powerful and large. However, he lacked confidence, and I believe that his most recent victory over Otto Wallin gave him the confidence he needed.

“I wouldn’t be shocked if he defeated Usyk in a third fight because he fought well, even though he has lost to Usyk. He has to believe that he is the best.”

Garcia continued by saying that he thinks a big part of why “AJ” looked good the last time out was Joshua’s recent activity.

That activity, in my opinion, was the primary factor, and I’m happy that they increased it. The only thing Rudy Hernandez and I told him was to keep Joshua busy and to fight him again immediately away following the fight with Usyk in the locker room, which is exactly what they did. The best thing they could have done for him was to put him through three fights this year.

Prior to any potential trilogy match, Joshua fights Francis Ngannou, the former UFC champion, on March 8 and Usyk faces Tyson Fury on February 17.

Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou, who will shortly face each other, are already playing mind games. The former MMA star has made fun of the British fighter’s inability to land punches.

Ngannou’s second-ever boxing battle comes in a few weeks. It is slated to take place in Saudi Arabia in the early months of March, following his extremely successful debut in October against WBC champion and lineal fighter Tyson Fury.

He boxed well, avoided problems, and knocked down Fury in the third round of that battle. Since then, speculation regarding whether or not Fury is declining has abounded.

In contrast, Joshua had a successful year, winning three fights—two close calls and one on points during a 12-round span. Although both men are known for being heavy hitters, the 10-round match may not last as long as planned.

That is undoubtedly what Congolese-Frenchman Ngannou is alluding to in his interview with the MMA Hour. First, he addressed Eddie Hearn’s assertions that Anthony Joshua will make easy money from the fight—some believe it will bring in eight figures for both men.

“Eddie promotes people; it comes naturally to him. He always says the same thing about all of them. He acts in that manner. The deadline is set for two months from now, so it’s too bad for them if any of them believe it will be simple money.

Next, Ngannou made fun of Joshua’s supposedly weak jaw.

“I can’t promise AJ will get up if he gets the punch like Fury got. It has been reported that he lacks a chin. I’m going to investigate. I genuinely want to give him a loss.”

Nobody can question Ngannou’s toughness after facing Fury and Joshua in his first two boxing battles, that much is certain.