Eddie Hearn believes Anthony Joshua will beat Francis Ngannou via knockout as their blockbuster bout rapidly approaches.
The two men are currently preparing for their fight in Saudi Arabia, which is due to take place on March 8.
Joshua will enter the fight on a high after victories over Otto Wallin, Robert Helenius and Jermaine Franklin Jr last year.
But Ngannou won’t be a straightforward opponent based on how he performed against Tyson Fury back in October.
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The former MMA star was unlucky to lose, having knocked Fury down in round three of that bout.
Hearn has admitted it’s a ‘dangerous’ fight for Joshua to be taking on, with the boxing promoter also ‘nervous’.
But he’s backing AJ to knock out Ngannou within eight rounds.
“It’s a tough fight against Ngannou, because it’s difficult to do that against a guy with only ten rounds,” he told iFL TV.
“It was even harder for Fury last time, and still hard for AJ.
“At least we’ve got ten rounds to break it down, but it’s a very dangerous fight.
“We’re all nervous, but we’re all excited. That’s what you want in a sport.
“It’s going to be two giants going at it. Can you believe it’s only going to be two weeks this Friday?
“Nganou is tough, he’s dangerous, but I think Joshua will knock him out.
“I think it might take six, seven, or eight rounds, but I just want to see his hand raised and move on.
“I believe Joshua will be too much and have too much for him.”
With the fight creeping closer, fighting talk between the two boxers has ramped up.
Ngannou has admitted he’s unsure Joshua will be able to recover like Fury did if he’s able to knock his opponent to the canvas.
“Yeah, I have a doubt about that,” he said on DAZN.
“Tyson showed that he’s very resilient. I saw him come back from knockdowns like you wouldn’t believe.
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“So I think he’s probably one of the most resistant [sic] person out there, and that’s not a disrespect to AJ.
“I don’t believe that AJ would take what Tyson did.”
Joshua, however, has hit back and taken a swipe at Fury in the process by pointing out how many times he’s been knocked down.
“Who hasn’t knocked Tyson down? So many people have knocked Tyson down,” he snapped.
“People claim he’s the greatest of many, many generations, but I think if I box Tyson Fury a lot of similarities will happen in the fight, so I am not surprised at all in terms of his [Ngannou] style, who Fury is, it’s just a boxing match.
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“Well done to both of them, they put on an entertaining fight but that’s in the past. That’s how boxing is, and we move forward now.”
Ngannou was also asked if he had any reservations about a fight with Joshua.
But the 37-year-old is confident in his ability and believes he’s got the quality to reign supreme.
“I asked for this fight. I watched him fight and then I made a tweet right away,” he added. “Why? Because there was an opportunity and I know he was going to fight Deontay Wilder, and I saw an opportunity there.
“I made a tweet for this fight, I was calling for that fight.
“Again, this is my second boxing match and I’m fighting one of the best, one of the top three, after fighting another top three. So in two of my fights in boxing I’m going to fight potentially the best in the world…”
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