Joe Rogan delves deep into a would-be boxing match between heavyweights Andy Ruiz Jr. and Francis Ngannou.
Prior to Saturday night’s fight against Anthony Joshua, not many people knew who Andy Ruiz Jr. was. But after his major upset win via seventh-round TKO, the 29-year-old “Destroyer” is now a recognizable name with potential brand sponsorships waiting for him.
It also opened talks about possible matchups for Ruiz, one of which against former UFC heavyweight title contender Francis Ngannou. Long-time analyst Joe Rogan, for one, is confident about “The Predator’s” boxing skills.
“I know he could box,” Rogan said of Ngannou during a recent episode of the Joe Rogan Experience podcast with Eddie Bravo (transcript by BJPenn.com). “He could with training.
“He’s so big and so powerful. He, in my opinion, the most dangerous one-punch guy I’ve ever seen. If you make any mistake with that guy… heavyweights just go flying across the room.”
Rogan did recognize Ruiz’s superiority over Ngannou in pure boxing, but also argued the latter’s undeniable knockout power. Nonetheless, he believes it is a fight people would clamor for, comparing it to the 2017 boxing match between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor.
“Andy Ruiz is a way better boxer,” Rogan said. “He’s a way, way, way better boxer. It’s a big difference. Andy Ruiz has 100 amateur fights. People would [want to] see it, just like people wanted to see Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor.
“It’s kind of the same way, you know, Conor McGregor knocks people dead in the UFC, and Floyd Mayweather is the greatest boxer of all time — of all time. He’s probably the most skillful defensive artist we’ve ever seen. Floyd got hit a couple of times [in that fight].
“The thing about Francis Ngannou is, I think even with big gloves, you can’t let him hit you with that,” Rogan continued. “The way Floyd got hit with that uppercut by Conor, Conor just kind of placed it there. He popped him, it was a good shot, but Floyd didn’t get wobbled. He didn’t get dropped.
“If Francis hit somebody like that? I don’t give a f—k who you are. If he hits you with that left hook that he hit Alistair [Overeem] with? Get the f—k out of here. No one survives that. The way he knocked out Cain [Velasquez], the way he clipped him with that little short uppercut and Cain seemed like he didn’t even know he got hit? He hits stupid hard. Like crazy, ridiculous, off the charts hard.”
Ngannou notched his second consecutive win in January, when scored a TKO win over former UFC champion Cain Velasquez inside 26 seconds of action.