Joshua in ‘spectacular’ shape ahead Ngannou clash

Anthony Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn insists the former world champion is in ‘spectacular’ shape ahead of his fight with Francis Ngannou.

Joshua and Ngannou will face each other in Saudi Arabia on March 8 for the right to challenge for the undisputed heavyweight title, which will be decided between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk in May.

‘AJ’ is rebuilding his career after losing his belts to Oleksandr Usyk, who is fighting WBC champion Tyson Fury in a unification bout in May after their February date was postponed.

Joshua is hoping to take on the winner later in 2024 after impressive recent victories over Jermaine Franklin, Robert Hellenius and Otto Wallin.

However, ex-MMA star Ngannou showed that he is not to be taken lightly after making Fury sweat for a controversial split-decision win on his boxing debut last October.

When asked what fans can expect from Joshua next month, Hearn told talkSPORT: “He looks great.

“I went down his gym last week with [trainer] Ben Davison. They’re working really well.

“It’s a dangerous fight, you know, I think on paper you expect AJ to take care of him, but as we saw on paper, it didn’t really pan out that way for the Fury fight.

“So we know that and Ngannou is a big lump. He punches hard. Mentally, he’s very strong and he can fight.

“But I just think AJ’s looking spectacular and I think he’s gonna do a job on Ngannou on March 8th.”