BISH BASH JOSH
AJ insists he’s still on the way up & itching for Ngannou clash
ANTHONY JOSHUA says the only way is up as he prepares to take on Francis Ngannou in front of a watching Tyson Fury in Saudi Arabia on Friday.
Joshua has made his fourth pilgrimage to the Kingdom in search of his fourth successive win since his rematch defeat by Oleksandr Usyk in 2022.
As he left the ring that night on the verge of tears, few would have backed the Brit to return to contention for the undisputed crown.
But the influx of Saudi cash has raised the prospect of Joshua fighting for all four belts later this year. Should he burst EX-UFC champion
Ngannou’s boxing bubble, the former heavyweight king can surely bank on the influence of the sport’s new puppet-master Turki Alalshikh to pull the necessary strings.
And he could come face to face with Fury, who will fly in to take his seat at ringside to support his brother
Roman in his fourth professional fight.
“This is the first time since 2017 that I’ve had three fights back-to-back,” said Joshua. “Maybe getting back in the gym and keeping constant is starting to pay off again.
“I’m trying to re-build and get that activity going. I’m not on my way out, I feel like I’m still on my way up.
Let’s say I’m throwing 100 punches a round, my goal is to turn that into 110 so the next guy I fight is in for more of a pacing than the last one.” He added: “I just want to fight, get in there and show people how good I am.
“Friday can’t come soon enough, I’m itching to get in there.”
Joshua should be days away from trading blows with Deontay Wilder - but those plans were wrecked when Joseph Parker beat the American here two nights before Christmas.
Instead Ngannou (inset) has seized the chance to prove his performance against Fury was no fluke, having dropped the unbeaten champion en-route to a paper-thin points defeat. He believes Joshua could prove a sterner test than his countryman – because of the three defeats on his record.
“The Tyson Fury one was different; it was my first time and there was a lot of noise,” Ngannou said. Fury is loud and there was a lot of curiosity, a lot of people including the boxing community didn’t believe it. “
He added: “We all learn from our mistakes.
“I’m more worried about people that have made mistakes in the past because that could make him more dangerous. From my first loss in combat sports, I understood more in one night than I understood in four years.”