Eddie Hearn, promoter for former two-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, believes his man will stop MMA veteran Francis Ngannou.
The fight is slated to take place on March 8 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Ngannou, a former UFC champion, made his professional boxing debut back in October of last year - in a crossover boxing match against WBC king Tyson Fury.
Leading up to that contest, Hearn expected a complete mismatch with Fury wiping Ngannou out.
That was far from how the fight played out.
Ngannou would shockingly drop Fury in the third round, and then fought him on even terms for the rest of the way. Fury was able to come away with a close ten round split decision win.
While many observers believe Fury underestimated Ngannou, Hearn and Joshua are taking the fight very seriously.
“Everyone’s going to play my previous clips [of me saying] that Francis Ngannou couldn’t win an English title before he fought Tyson Fury. I feel like he’s earned that shot — or certainly to continue at that level. And I fancy the fight. You’ve heard me say before, I really believe AJ knocks him out. But he’s a dangerous fight. I know that this guy’s a big, big lump that can really punch, and I think he has no fear, which makes him dangerous. But I just feel like AJ’s in a great place, and I expect him to pick him apart and knock him out," Hearn told The MMA Hour.
“You can’t really say that he’s not a credible opponent. I’ve heard Carl Froch and others say, ‘Oh, this is just a cash grab.’ No, this is a dangerous fight. Like, AJ actually has a lot to lose here. Coming off the Wallin fight, he’s in a wonderful position to go and fight for the IBF world title, which we hope will happen after the Francis Ngannou fight. But it’s kind of like, there’s a lot of jeopardy in this fight. A lot of jeopardy. If you lose to Francis Ngannou — Francis Ngannou is 0-1, right? So it’s not a great look, losing to Francis Ngannou. So he’s going to do everything he can to avoid that.
“They’re taking this very seriously,” Hearn added. “In their mind, this is the toughest fight of their career. Francis Ngannou is a very dangerous man, and they’ll be training, absolutely, with every ounce in their soul to be victorious.”