Eddie Hearn details biggest difference in Anthony Joshua since Wladimir Klitschko fight ahead of Francis Ngannou bout

07/03/2024 12:52

Eddie Hearn believes Anthony Joshua is a completely different fighter to the boxer than stopped Wladimir Klitschko.

AJ will take to the ring in his latest appearance against heavy-handed Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia on Friday night.

The former two-time champion been involved in some historic nights including his incredible 11th-round knockout win over Klitschko at Wembley Stadium in 2017.

But things have changed since then, as Joshua no longer holds the unified titles and holds three defeats on his professional record.

After back-to-back losses against Oleksandr Usyk, Joshua has since bounced back with wins over Jermaine Franklin, Robert Helenius and Otto Wallin.

With a commanding performance last time out, his promoter Hearn believes he has shown a new more rounded skillset to take forward.

“I’ve said for a long time that if he believes in what he’s doing, he’s going to be very difficult to beat. He’s in a great place at the moment,” Hearn told The Sporting News.

“You could go back fully to the Klitschko fight. But he didn’t really know what he was doing.

“That was quite a naive AJ, which made him very dangerous, but at that stage he was just all strength and heart.

“And good fundamentals. He’s a more all-round fighter now. His defence is so much better than it was then.

“His footwork is so much better than it was then, but that’s what made him exciting then because he was still a young, not a rookie, but he was very, very inexperienced.”

Joshua’s approach was questioned in his two fights with Usyk, changing from long-term coach Robert McCracken to Angel Fernandez and Robert Garcia.

After failing to overturn his defeat in their rematch, Joshua turned to American coach Derrick James who coached him for wins over Franklin and Helenius.

But Joshua’s best performance came against Wallin in December, after linking up with Tyson Fury‘s ex-trainer Ben Davison.

Joshua’s former cornerman Fernandez believes Davison is getting the best from the 34-year-old.

He told talkSPORT.com: "With fighters you have to start to come back into confidence and belief a bit more in yourself.

“We had two or three fights in between that were win, to get back to who he was before. Now hopefully Ben brings that out of AJ.”