Anthony Joshua was not interest in “gimmick fights” against former UFC champs.
Then Francis Ngannou proved that MMA strikers could hang with the best in the world by going toe-to-toe with WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury last Oct. in Riyadh. Now, “AJ” is ready to board the “Predator” hype train in March.
Sounds great on paper, but former undisputed heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis suggests a fight against Ngannou — even with a win — could backfire on Joshua, because it weakens his case for the next crack at the WBC crown.
Joshua is coming off a finish over Otto Wallin in Saudi Arabia.
“If AJ beats Ngannou, which he should, does that elevate him to a shot at undisputed? Beating Wallin and Ngannou?” Lewis wrote on Twitter. “There’s a much better case for the winner of Parker vs. Zhang and if AJ gets through Ngannou, and Usyk wins undisputed, is the appetite for Usyk vs. Joshua 3 out there?”
Olympic silver medalist Zhang Zhilei battles former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker in the co-main event of the Joshua-Ngannou card, a pay-per-view (PPV) spectacle that goes down just a few weeks after Fury defends his WBC strap against Ukrainian bruiser Oleksandr Usyk.
Usyk already holds two victories over Joshua.
“If Fury becomes undisputed, the man says he’s vacating all belts but the WBC and The Ring so Fury in effect becomes last undisputed [champion] until someone else can ‘Thanos’ them back together,” Lewis continued. “I still want to see AJ fight Fury and Wilder … those are big fights. But like I told Mike Tyson, if you keep fighting guys like Lou Savarese, you will NEVER be ready for me.”
Expect boxing’s heavyweight division to get a major shake up (for better or worse) in just a few weeks.