Former unified heavyweight Anthony Joshua is set to take on former MMA icon Francis Ngannou on March 8 in Saudi Arabia and the Brit is treating his upcoming opponent with utmost respect.
The victor between the two would go on to face the winner between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk, which will be played on February 17.
However, Joshua does not want to get ahead of himself and wants to have his focus only on his next fight due to his respect for Ngannou.
"Let me say this again, I’m not focusing on [facing the Fury-Usyk winner],” Joshua said to The MMA Hour. “I’m going to take my mind, I have to draw it back that Ngannou is my undisputed title fight. That’s the mentality I have to have.
“Ngannou is my undisputed fight. Because you’re only as good as your last fight, and I respect him a lot. He ain’t easy money. He’s a hard night’s work. And you know what’s crazy? So am I. I’m a hard night’s work for anyone. So let’s go, it’s going to be fireworks.”
Joshua is 27-3 in boxing while Ngannou made his pro debut in October 2023 in a ten-round fight against Fury, which the latter won but the MMA star proved himself by flooring his counterpart in the third round.
Joshua was initially planned to face Deontay Wilder but the American suffered an expected loss to Joseph Parker.
“I thought it might be Wilder still, because the contracts were signed, and it’s still a big fight,” Joshua said. “It’s still an amazing fight, it’s a crossover between U.K. and U.S.A., all that good stuff promotional-wise, it’s still a good fight.
“So no, I kind of let that one slide for, and then it was the [Flip] Hrgovic situation, the [Andy] Ruiz situation, and then they put Francis there, and my team were like, ‘This is a good opportunity on this day in Saudi Arabia against this opponent. What are you saying?’ I said, ‘Let’s roll. Let’s go.’”