Francis Ngannou told Tyson Fury, “Respect the fact that boxing is protecting us and the rules of boxing [are] protecting us. Because, without that, you are nothing in front of me. I will beat you every day. Twice on Sunday.” Can Ngannou say that to Anthony Joshua as well? Maybe not.
Fury and Joshua are built differently. There is no doubt that Fury is one of the greatest heavyweight boxers but Joshua looks much more than a boxer.
His boxing performance vs. Ngannou was devastating. Why wouldn’t he be able to pull it off in MMA as well? Joshua is athletic, moves around with an air of confidence, has magnificent punching power, and if he can avoid wrestling, he might just pull off the unthinkable.
Former UFC fighter and current ONE Flyweight Champion Demetrious Johnson has similar views. He took to his YouTube channel and said, “Does Anthony Joshua beat Francis Ngannou in an MMA fight? I think he does.
(Watch from 8:25 minutes)
“It would just be another striking match. AJ understands his distance. He understands the void. He has better hands than Francis, and he can make Francis even whiff and miss again. Unless Francis is going to change his tactic and go clinch him and wrestle him, (Joshua would win). But AJ is very athletic. He is smaller, he’s more limber. I think he’d be able to stuff the shot and be able to give it to Francis Ngannou.”
DJ’s reasoning is quite sound. It traces back to Anthony Joshua being athletic enough to compete in an MMA fight.
How could Anthony Joshua take out Francis Ngannou in an MMA fight?
Taking some pieces off of their boxing bout, AJ can maintain a distance and strike hard enough to get a knockdown and finish the job. He did not take too long to get his first knockdown in the first round. Ngannou was stunned. He wouldn’t get the time to get up and fight again in MMA.
There are a lot of differences between an MMA fight and a boxing bout. Kicks and ground-game are the most important ones. Ngannou is not too large on the kicks. He is a good wrestler. However, if Joshua can withstand the clinch and be strong enough to not get taken down, he has a more than good enough chance to knock out Ngannou in an MMA fight.
Ngannou did incorporate a lot of wrestling in his last MMA bout against Ciryl Gane. AJ’s first and foremost priority would be to keep the fight on his feet. Maybe once he’s taken down his chances are bleak. On feet, however, he has as good a chance as Ngannou.
It should be noted that AJ excelled in soccer and athletics early in his life. He was fast and ran 100m sprints in record times. Athletic abilities are supremely important in MMA. Especially, as a heavyweight, with AJ’s physique and athletic abilities, he is bound to achieve success in the field.
If AJ gets a long enough fight camp before entering the MMA cage against Ngannou, he has all the abilities to take him on. Although it is not 100% possible, Anthony Joshua does have a shot at defeating the former UFC Heavyweight Champion.