Eddie Hearn asked directly – What happens if Anthony Joshua loses to Francis Ngannou in heavyweight fight?

01/03/2024 17:29

Eddie Hearn has insisted Anthony Joshua must beat Francis Ngannou in next week’s heavyweight showdown.

AJ will lace up his gloves and face ex-UFC champion Ngannou in a Saudi Arabia blockbuster on March 8.

Joshua has put together a confident three-fight win streak since suffering two consecutive defeats to Oleksandr Usyk, and is hoping to land a new title shot in 2024.

The experienced Joshua will go into the contest as the bookies’ favurite, despite Ngannou’s impressive performance against Tyson Fury on his boxing debut.

Eddie Hearn joined talkSPORT to discuss the upcoming event, and insisted it is simply a do-or-die scenario for his fighter.

“I mean it isn’t great is it? Losing to a 0-1 MMA fighter, we know he is UFC heavyweight champion and has somewhat of a boxing background,” Hearn said.

“But you shouldn’t really be losing to guys who haven’t been competing at the highest level of the sport. But we have shown against Tyson Fury what he is capable of.

“This is the one division where anything can happen, you aren’t fighting lightweights and middleweights, you are fighting a big strong puncher who isn’t afraid to let his hands go.

“So when these guys let their hands go, anything can happen.”

Despite the threat of Ngannou, Hearn anticipates AJ will come through the challenge and has his eyes on a clash with Tyson Fury if he beats Oleksandr Usyk.

“It is all business for him, he has a dream still to become undisputed champion,” Hearn continued.

“One of the reasons we are taking this fight is because His Excellency in Saudi Arabia has said that the winner of this fight is in line to fight the winner of Fury v Usyk.

“Everything is on the line for AJ, and if he can do a good job and Fury can beat Usyk, I really believe you can see that fight.”

Joshua looked supremely confident in a dominant display against Otto Wallin last time out, and will likely have many advantages on the night.

And the Matchroom Boxing kingpin is confident that Joshua will get the job done with the Saudi Arabia date fast approaching.

“I am a bit nervous. On paper AJ should be going through Ngannou, but we saw what he did to Fury in that fight,” he said.

“Ngannou had him down in that fight, I felt like he won it. He’s a very strong man, can definitely punch and isn’t afraid and I’m sure there will be some hairy moments in the fight.

“But AJ looks fantastic, and I am looking forward to another dominant victory from him.”