Francis Ngannou fooled the boxing world with Mike Tyson training footage for Tyson Fury fight – but same trick won't work on Anthony Joshua

27/02/2024 12:50

Francis Ngannou nearly caused a huge upset against Tyson Fury, but not before fooling the boxing world with his ‘training footage’.

Ngannou is next in action against Anthony Joshua in what will be his second appearance in the boxing ring, six months after knocking down Fury in a narrow defeat on his debut in the sport.

The former UFC heavyweight champion was trained by boxing legend Mike Tyson for his contest against Fury, with Ngannou’s exact skill level in boxing unknown.

Before his debut, footage had emerged of Ngannou looking extremely lacklustre on the pads during an open workout with his new coach Tyson.

Influential figures in the boxing world noticed Tyson’s seemingly displeased reaction to his pad work, and made their own public assumptions about his quality.

Fury’s father John said: “I’ve seen the open workout, I hope he’s kidding along and he’s playing possum here. I hope that’s a joke and intended to be a laugh.

“Because if it’s not, he ain’t got a prayer, he ain’t got a cat in hell’s chance. He won’t get out the first round, it’s probably gonna be Tyson’s quickest knockout.

“If that’s what he’s got, God help him, he’ll get smashed to bits. That’s embarrassing. If that’s what he can do on a public workout, don’t bother. It’s a disgrace.”

Former super-middleweight champion Carl Froch added: “Fury’s not going to be worried about getting hit by that monstrous punch, because I’ve seen Ngannou on the pads and he looks terrible.

“He looks like what I’d expect a zero fight novice to look like; slow, awkward, stiff – how is he going to get near Fury? He’s going to get his head absolutely peppered off."

‘The Predator’ earned recognition for his powerful striking during his time in the UFC, where he reigned as heavyweight champion before agreeing to his exit in 2023.

But no-one anticipated what he would do when he switched to the squared circle against the lineal heavyweight champion Fury, who went into the contest as overwhelming favourite.

Ngannou dropped the WBC champion and threatened to win the fight entirely, but the Briton was able to climb to his feet and recover to earn a points victory.

Fury was left stunned, and Ngannou’s incredible performance earned him a position in the top ten of the WBC rankings, and a clash against Joshua in turn.

It was a foolery of the highest order from Ngannou, which saw him able to over-perform and quite nearly fashion one of the biggest upsets in boxing history.

Joshua now has the benefit of fight footage when preparing for his own tilt with the MMA fighter, and it is extremely unlikely that lightning will strike twice.